LEPIDOPTERA. 271 



contained therein, from those branches which are too high to be 

 reached by hand. Instead of the brush, we may use, with nearly 

 equal success, a small mop or sponge, dipped as often as neces- 

 sary into a pailful of refuse soap-suds, strong white-wash, or cheap 

 oil. The mop should be thrust into the nest and turned round a 

 little, so as to wet the caterpillars with the liquid, which will kill 

 every one that it touches. These means, to be effectual, should 

 be employed during the proper hours, that is, early in the morn- 

 ing, at mid-day, or at night, and as soon in the spring as the cater- 

 pillars begin to make their nests ; and they should be repeated as 

 often, at least, as once a week, till the insects leave the trees. 

 Early attention and perseverance in the use of these remedies 

 will, in time, save the farmer hundreds of dollars, and abundance 

 of mortification and disappointment, besides rewarding him with 

 the grateful sight of the verdant foliage, snowy blossoms, and rich 

 fruits of his orchard in their proper seasons. Under the third 

 head, I beg leave to urge the people of this Commonwealth to 

 declare war against these caterpillars, a war of extermination, to 

 be waged annually during the month of May and the beginning of 

 June. Let every able-bodied citizen, who is the owner of an ap- 

 ple or cherry tree, cultivated or wild, within our borders, appear 

 on duty, and open the campaign on the first washing-day in May, 

 armed and equipped with brush and pail, as above directed, and 

 give battle to the common enemy ; and let every housewife be 

 careful to reserve for use a plentiful supply of ammunition, strong 

 waste soap-suds, after every weekly wash, till the liveried host 

 shall have decamped from their quarters, and retreated for the 

 season. If every man is prompt to do his duty, I venture to 

 predict that the enemy will be completely conquered, in less time 

 than it will take to exterminate the Indians in Florida. 



Another caterpillar, whose habits are similar to those of the 

 preceding, is now and then met with, in Massachusetts, upon oak 

 and walnut trees, and more rarely still upon apple-trees. Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Abbot " it is sometimes so plentiful in Virginia 

 as to strip the oak-trees bare." It may be called Clisiocampa 

 silvatica, the tent-caterpillar of the forest. With us it comes to 

 its full size from the tenth to the twentieth of June, and then 

 measures about two inches in length. There are a few short 



