No. 115.] 95 



to repeat them as often as inquiry is made. The best approved pre- 

 ventive and remedial measures have been ^iven by me in detail 

 in the Country Gentleman for May 18, 1882, page 393, and for 

 July 10, 1884, page 577. A reference to these will furnish the 

 information asked for in the above note of inquiry. My Second 

 Report on the Insects of New York, pages 7-9, may also be 

 consulted. 



It may be well to state that at the time when the frost is leaving 

 the ground myriads of the pupae of the insect may be destroyed 

 by breaking up the ground beneath the trees to the depth of six 

 inches. Swine have often been found of service in this work and 

 for feeding at the same time on other apple insects. 



Almost entire protection has been obtained by the use of bands 

 about the trunks of apple trees, of tar and molasses, of printers' 

 ink, of special mixtures sold for the purpose by dealers in agricultural 

 supplies, of tin bands prepared after instructioris given, of tin 

 troughs containing kerosene oil, etc. All of these are used for the 

 purpose of .preventing the wingless moth, after hatching from her 

 pupal case in the ground beneath the tree, from climbing up the 

 trunk and depositing her eggs upon the limbs. 



Probably a less laborious and expensive method is to poison the 

 caterpillars very soon after they have commenced to feed and before 

 they have had time to injure to any serious extent the foliage. 

 The poison may be arsenic dissolved in boiling water to the strength 

 of one pound to 200 gallons of water, Paris green, or London purple. 

 The last will be found the easiest in preparation and in use. To 

 be told just how to do it will perhaps lead many into doing it. A 

 correspondent has given the method as follows : 



I placed three empty coal-oil barrels, having a capacity of about 

 fifty gallons each, in a wagon and filled them with water. I then 

 took a pound of London purple for each barrel, first mixing it well 

 in a pail of wpter and pouring it into the barrel. The wagon was 

 driven along the windward side of the row of trees, if there was 

 much wind ; and with a fountain pump with a fine rose, the liquid 

 WHS thrown over the tree. The water in the barrels must be con- 

 stantly stirred during the operation to prevent the poison from 

 settling. Great care should be taken not to breathe any of it, nor 

 to allow the wind to carry the liquid toward men or horses. With 

 two teams and four men three or four hundred trees could be sprayed 

 in a day. The entire cost, including pumps, barrels, poison and labor, 

 was about three cents a tree for twice spraying. In rainy weather 

 the application should be repeated two or three times. 



