82 CURRAN’. 
and sheltering again at the surface of the ground. This precaution 
applies also to date of dressing away possibly infested rubbish from 
beneath the bushes, which, as well as pruning, is a very desirable 
preventive. All the prunings and clearings from beneath the bushes 
should be collected and burnt, in order to avoid any chance of the 
caterpillars, which would otherwise survive in them till spring, then 
coming out and crawling back to the bushes. 
I have had notes from localities where caterpillar attack was 
customarily bad, and as far as I could judge, it was the non-complete 
removal of the infestation consequently on the early autumn pruning 
and dressing of the ground beneath the bushes which was the reason. 
But if the bushes and the ground beneath are properly cleared, re- 
spectively by pruning and removal of hanging leaves, and by removal 
of surface shelter below, the pests are so absolutely cleared out that there 
is nothing left to continue attack in the spring. 
Removal of the transparent cocoons from any places, as palings, 
walls, crevices, or boughs, towards the end of May or beginning of 
June would of course be very desirable, for thus we should get rid of 
the coming brood of moths; but when the leafage on bushes and 
walls is in full early summer luxuriance, it is not likely the cocoons 
will be noticeable unless the infestation is to a quite unusual amount. 
Amongst mechanical remedies, hand-picking, if the attack is taken 
in time, and a good number of workers put on so as to carry through 
the clearance at once where the Currant or Gooseberry growing is on 
a large scale, has been found to answer well. Also (as a preventive), 
where this conspicuous moth is seen in large numbers, it would be 
worth while, and quite possible from its day flying and quiet habits, 
to lessen its numbers greatly by use of a common butterfly-net, or 
sometimes even with the hand. 
Placing pieces of canvas or sheets below the bushes, and shaking 
or jarring the boughs sharply so as to dislodge the caterpillars, and 
then gathering them up in the cloths and destroying them, has been 
found good treatment. 
For dustings or sprayings, powdered hellebore is one kind of 
effective application so far as killing the caterpillars is concerned ; but 
it is so very poisonous, and the effect would be so dangerous to all who 
partook of the fruit, unless it had been washed quite free from the 
dressing, that I cannot take upon myself to advise it. 
Flour of sulphur dusted on the leaves when the dew is on so that the 
powder would adhere, or a liberal application of soot similarly used, 
are serviceable remedies and quite safe. 
Paris-green sprayings, though these to sueceed properly should be 
in such minute quantity of the arsenite contained that they would be 
(demonstrably) perfectly without any cause of risk to the consumers of 
