ail Raia ai: Bi, 
21 
garious habit of the larvie, however, suggests another remedy which is 
practical and very efficient if thoroughly carried out. This is the 
destruction of the webs and the contained larvie, either by cutting off 
the twigs which carry them and burning immediately, or burning the 
webs without pruning. If this work be done properly and against the 
early summer generation, the pruning method is unnecessary and inad- 
visable. By the use of a proper torch the webs and the caterpillars 
which they contain can be burned off at nightfall without necessarily 
destroying the life of the twigs, and a second crop of leaves will be put 
out a little later, so that the tree does not remain disfigured for any 
length of time. A bundle of rags wired to the end of a pole and satu- 
rated with kerosene makes a good torch for the purpose; or a porous 
brick wired to a pole and saturated with kerosene answers the purpose 
even better. Private persons will find this remedy sufficient. City 
authorities should apply an arsenical spray. Collecting the cocoons in 
winter may be carried on simultaneously with the collection of the egg 
masses of the white-marked tussock moth, but this, as well as other 
community remedies, will be referred to at another place. 
THE RELATIVE IMMUNITY FROM INSECTS OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES 
OF SHADE TREES. 
As regards a number of the principal shade trees that are most com- 
monly grown, there does not seem to be any great preference on the 
part of the fall webworm and the tussock-moth caterpillar. If a moth 
happens to lay her eggs upon or near a given tree standing in a row, 
the species will naturally spread along the row before it will cross to 
the opposite side. In this way erroneous ideas of the relative immunity 
of trees have frequently been gathered. = 
Taking the insect question as a whole, however, there is a decided 
difference in the relative value of certain varieties. In December, 1893, 
the Tree Planting and Fountain Society of Brooklyn asked a number 
of experts to name for the use of the society nine of the most valuable 
trees for planting in Brooklyn. Three of these trees were to be large- 
growing, three medium-sized, and three small-growing varieties. 
The reply of Mr. B. E. Fernow, Chief of the Division of Forestry in 
the United States Department of Agriculture, was comprehensive and 
of great value. He tabulated nearly 50 varieties, analyzing their good 
qualities under the different heads of endurance, recuperative power, 
cleanliness, beauty of form, shade, leaf period, rapidity of growth, and 
persistence, giving 3 as the highest mark for any one of these qualities 
and estimating the value of a given tree by the total number of marks 
given toit. This reply was printed and issued as a circular by the 
Brooklyn society. Mr. Fernow made no specific rating for immunity 
from insect pests, although in his introductory remarks he seems to 
have included the insect question under the head of cleanliness. 
