88 THE LEPIDOPTERIST 



I know of no other place where they are half as thick 

 or a tenth as large. The grove, of about four hun- 

 dred trees, extends over an area a quarter of a 

 mile long and about two hundred feet wide. We 

 divided our party, one half taking the upper edge and 

 the other half the lower edge, and started "sugaring" 

 about fifteen minutes before dark. 



A mixture of stale beer, rum, brown sugar and old 

 molasses, about the consistency of maple syrup 

 was used. With a one-and-a-half inch brush we put 

 a spot about five inches long and two inches wide on 

 every tree along the path. By the time we reached 

 the end of the grove, darkness had fallen and the 

 wind, which before had been rather cool, had died 

 out so that the evening was quite warm. By great 

 good luck there was no moon. All in all, a fine 

 night ! What would we get ? 



We didn't wait a minute but snapped on our elec- 

 tric lights, put a jar in every pocket and started. From 

 then on our hearts never left the vicinity of our 

 mouths. Did we sugar this tree? Is there anything 

 on it? Ah, there is one! Suppose we miss it! What's 

 that? Is it a new variety? These and a hundred 

 other possibilities provided enough excitement in an 

 hour to furnish a month of reminiscenses next w'in- 

 ter. 



At the end of the first round both parties compared 

 notes and found that several specimens were taken on 

 the very first trees, although it was only a few minutes 

 after dark. It is interesting to note that every one 

 of the eight species and two varieties that were taken 

 during the evening were seen on the trees on this 

 first trip, although only seven of them were caught. 

 Two more round trips were made and' then we de- 

 cided to pack up and start for home. 



All specimens were removed from tlie jars and 

 pinned in relaxing boxes made of marshmallow tins 

 with moist peat in the bottom. Then when every speci- 

 men had been securely pinned and bags tightly packed 

 we were ready for the home trip, the time when you 

 learn what the other fellow has caught, how many of 



