CHAPTER XIV. 



INSECT CALENDAR. 



In this calendar I propose to especially notice the injurious 

 insects. References to the times of their appearance must be 

 necessarily vague, and apply only, in a very general way, to the 

 Northern States. Insects appear in Texas about six weeks 

 earlier than in Virginia, in the Middle States six weeks earlier 

 than in northern New England and the North-western States, 

 and in New England about six weeks earlier than in Labrador. 

 The time of the appearance of insects corresponds to the time 

 of the flowering or leafing out of certain trees and herbs ; for 

 instance, the larvae of the American Tent caterpillar and of the 

 Canker worm hatch just as the apple tree begins to leaf out; a 

 little later the Plant lice appear, to feast on the tender leaves ; 

 and when, during the first week in June, our forests and or- 

 chards are fully leafed out, hosts of insects are marshalled to 

 ravage and devour their foliage. 



The Insects of Early Spring. 



In April the gardener should scrape and wash thoroughly all 

 his fruit trees, so as to rub oS" the eggs of the bark lice which 

 hatch out early in May. Many injurious caterpillars and insects 

 of all kinds winter under loose pieces of bark, or under matting 

 and straw at the base of the trees. Search should also be made 

 for the eggs of the Canker worm and the American Tent cater- 

 pillar, which last are laid in bunches half an inch long on the 

 terminal shoots of many of our fruit trees. A little labor spent 

 in this way will save many dollars' worth of fruit. The "cast- 

 ings" of the Apple Tree Borer (Saperda bivittata) should be 

 looked for at the base of the tree, and its ravages be promptly 



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