456 INSECTS AT HOiME. 



looking to see whether or not it contains a caterpillar. Still, 

 the good that they do very much counterbalances the harm, 

 and the little birds should be allowed to have their own way 

 with the fruit-trees. The late Mr. Waterton would never allow 

 a single little bird ever to be scared from his trees, much less 

 killed, and I never saw anywhere better prospects of hea,vy 

 crops. 



Various plans have been tried to exterminate these mis- 

 chievous caterpillars. Being silk-spinners, they lower them- 

 selves by their threads when alarmed, and, by taking advan- 

 tage of this habit, the gardener can kill great numbers of the 

 larvae by simply tapping the boughs so as to frighten the 

 caterpillars from their food. But ' prevention is better than 

 cure,' and, on account of the structure and habits of the 

 female, she can generally be prevented from depositing her 

 eggs. Had she wings, nothing could be done ; but as she is 

 wingless, and is forced to climb up the trunks of trees before 

 she can lay her eggs, it is mostly possible to prevent her from 

 doing so. If the trunks of the trees be kept smeared with a 

 sticky compound, renewed as soon as it begins to harden, vast 

 numbers of the female can be interrupted in their march up 

 the tree, and detained until they are slaughtered by the 

 gardener. 



Then, at night, the gardener should examine the trunks of 

 all trees by the aid of a lantern, and he will be sure to find a 

 number of female Winter Moths, each desirous of depositing 

 her stock of two hundred eggs. I should fancy that birdlime 

 might be useful. A mixture of Stockholm tar and cart-grease 

 has been recommended ; but if I had any standard fruit- 

 trees, especially plums, greengages, or filberts, I should try the 

 efficacy of bird-lime. In this part of the country, where 

 cherry orchards abound, the fruit-growers paint the trunks of 

 the trees with whitewash mixed with weak size. This process 

 may or may not be efficacious, but there is no doubt that it is 

 very unsightly, making the otherwise beautiful cherry-orchard 

 an absolute eyesore. 



When the caterpillar has become too large to be contained 

 within the bud, it turns its attention to the young leaves, 

 fixing its silken threads to their edges, and drawing two or 

 three together, so as to form a sort of tent, in which it lives. 



