47 



go round the fruit trees in the dark with a lantern, and destroy the 

 females, which may be found sitting on the outer ends of the 

 lower boughs of the fruit trees, and are easily taken. Another 

 good plan is to prune the fruit trees not earlier than February, and 

 then to prune away and afterwards burn all the twigs that have any 

 eggs upon them. Last year I adopted this plan, and searched the 

 trees two evenings a week for some time, and my fruit crop that 

 year was the best we ever had.* 



With the larvae of the Saw Fly it is more difBcult to contend ; 

 but the old plan of making use of powdered hellebore is the best 

 I have yet been able to hear of They are double brooded, but 

 the first brood does not do as much harm as the second, which 

 generally clears the trees of all the leaves, and then all the fruit 

 drops from the branches. 



Another plan found to answer the purpose of preserving fruit 

 trees from the attacks of the Winter Moth larvae is that of placing 

 pieces of string coated with birdlime around the lower part of each 

 tree. In crawling up the trees for the purpose of depositing their 

 eggs, the females are caught by the birdlime, and effectually pre- 

 vented from reaching that part of the tree where their presence 

 could be productive of any kind of harm. A little perseverance 

 with this plan will generally result in keeping the fruit trees entirely 

 clear of this pest. 



The other insect pest I named— the Small Ermine Moth- 

 attacks the buds and the fruit blossoms of the Apple. The larvse 

 live in broods, under the shelter of a tough, silky-looking web, 

 which even the Tits and the Sparrows seem unable to penetrate. 

 I have found it a good plan to tear the web open with a bent wire 

 fastened at the end of a long stick, so as to enable the birds to get 

 at and demolish the entire horde, which, unless artificially exposed 

 in some such way, seems to be entirely safe from the attacks of 

 even such birds as would eat them with avidity whenever they 

 have an opportunity of doing so. 



The Northern Winter Moth (C boreata); The November Moth 

 {Oporabia dilutatd); The Autumnal Moth {O. filigrammarid) ; 

 * On this subject see Newman's British Moths, pp. 106-7. (Ed.) 



