166 PLUM. 



Captain Corbett reported to me from Toddington Fruit - 

 grounds, from the experience of some of the foremen who had 

 given special attention to date of banding, that " all trees 

 greased before Oct. 17th were nearly free from caterpillar. 

 Those not greased until Oct. 17th were infested with cater- 

 pillar." As a hell) to know when the moths might be expected 

 to appear, Captain Corbett further noted: — "I would just 

 add that another foreman kept some chrysalids of the Winter 

 Moth in a box last autumn, and on the first moth coming out 

 he put the band of grease round his trees. His trees are for 

 the most part thickly laden with Plums." 



Taking various reports sent me, it appeared that presence 

 of wingless moths was observed at different dates from Oct. 

 11th to Nov, 19th, at which time the Winter Moths were still 

 going up the trees in large numbers ; therefore during this 

 period, and as long as examination shows that moths are still 

 being captured, care should be taken that all the bands are 

 soft and sticky. 



Stakes and ti'ee-guards need attention. — Where young trees 

 are fastened to stakes, something of course must be done to 

 stop traffic up these poles or stakes and thence to the trees ; 

 and where bundles of rough sticks are tied round the stems 

 to prevent these being gnawed by animals, these guards will 

 also probably be a most fertile source of caterpillar attack at 

 hatching time in sp)ring, unless well looked to. For stopping 

 traffic up the guards or stakes tar would do very well, but it 

 would be difficult to apply any treatment that would not be 

 very troublesome to the bundles of sticks. In such cases, 

 banding above the sticks or the attachment of the guards is 

 the safest course. 



But though by means of the grease-banding vast numbers 

 of moths are stopped in their upward traffic wherever the 

 plan is properly carried out, still there are difficulties which 

 have to be watched for and remedied, such as passage of 

 stray moths over the sticky bands when they are becoming 

 dry, or over the dead bodies of the moths which have been 

 " stuck" in numbers on the bands ; also the difficulty arising 

 from many of the moths stopped in their upward passage 

 laying their eggs on the tree below the band, and the cater- 

 pillars from these, when they hatch out in the spring, making 

 their way upwards. 



Soft-soap and mineral-oil washes and emulsions. — On appli- 

 cation to Mr. J. Fletcher, Entomologist of the Dominion of 

 Canada (requesting his advice as one of the very best authori- 

 ties as to prevention of caterpillar attack), regarding the 

 surest way of destroying eggs left as above noted, he wrote 

 as follows: — "For washing the trunk, to destroy all eggs 



