54 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA: 



liis very door without being able to help himself — a pro- 

 ceeding which is manifestly unfair to those who spend 

 both their time and means in an uphill attempt to keep 

 their orchards in a proper state of cleanliness. 



As showing the advantage to be gained ])y the use of 

 bandages, Mr. OlifF, Entomologist to the Department 

 of Agriculture of New South Wales, in quoting from 

 Mr. Howard, tells us that " two bands should be applied 

 to each tree, one above the other, and Dr. Le Baron 

 has shown that in a five-tree experiment, the bands 

 being from 1^ feet to 2 feet above the other, that the 

 number of grubs found in the upper bands was 282, and 

 in the lower ones 350, and in nearly every case the lower 

 ones contained the most;" but to be effective, as has often 

 been remarked, growers must unite. The simplest and 

 best bands are perhaps those made from old (not rotten) 

 bagging cut into strips of, say, 4 or 5 inches in width. These 

 bands should be carefully removed, and the grubs 

 destroyed at least every week or ten daj-s— that is during 

 time of hybernation. Scraping off the loose bark with a 

 three-cornered piece of iron, fastened on to a handle (an 

 altered ship's scraper will do), is another good plan, as by 

 this means the shedding bark is removed and the places 

 of concealment for the grubs considerably lessened. In 

 treatinii: fruit trees either for insects or funoi too much 

 care cannot be taken that suitable weather is chosen for 

 the purpose, as, if it is wet, the fluid is washed off the tree 

 before it has done its work, and on the other hand, if the 

 sun be powerful, there is a probability of the foliage, 

 buds, and even the fruit itself, being either burned or 

 scalded. The proper time to treat fruit trees generally is 

 on dull (not wet) days, and, as has often been proved, two 

 applications with a weak solution (so long as too much 

 time is not allowed to lapse between the two operations) 

 is better and is likely to be more effective than one 

 dressing with a solution which may at once be too strong. 

 This sort of work is to be learned only by practical 

 experience and not by the guidance of theory, as is too 

 often the case in newer countries. 



