ORCHARDS. 207 



With regard to washes, one pound of sal soda to one gallon of 

 water will have a very good effect. Another remedy is to 

 mix one part of soft soap with four parts of water and a lit- 

 tle fresh slacked lime Another — a solution of one pound of 

 potash to two gallons of water, applied when the lice hegin to 

 crawl about the branches. A lye of wood ashes is also re- 

 commended for the same. purpose." 



We have never seen apple trees much injured by these in- 

 sects, nor have we ever heard of their depredations to any 

 extent in the South. 



THE CANKER WORM. 



{Anisoptej'ia pometaria, of Harris.) 



In some parts of the country, especially at the North and 

 on the seacoast, this insect is very destructive to the apple 

 tree by destroying the blossoms and foliage, and even the very 

 young and tender fruit. They are seldom troublesome in the 

 Piedmont region of Virginia or in the corresponding portions 

 of Maryland and North Carolina. They may be seen, how- 

 ever, on the isolated limbs of some trees, the leaves of which 

 are completely riddled and devoured by them, and, when so 

 employed they may be easily destroyed by cutting off the 

 twigs. The Dutch Elm, however, in our latitude suffers 

 greatly by this depredator. They completely desolate the 

 trees and render them as naked as at midwinter — not one 

 tree or branch escapes them — and during the hottest part of 

 the Summer these handsome trees are entirely useless as shade 

 trees. A second crop of leaves, however, begin to appear 

 about the 1st of September, and become about half grown 

 before the early frost takes them. This second crop of leaves 

 is not molested, it being too late for the operations of this 

 insect. 



The Canker worm usually rises out of the ground very early 

 in the Spring, chiefly in March, as soon as the ground is free 

 from frost. The females having no wings, climb slowly up 

 the trunks of the trees, while the winged males hover about 



