13 



C. — 2. Cleaning the trees. In winter, care should be taken to nick 

 off all cocoons and nests of insects, such as nests of leaf-crum piers, 

 cocoons of basket or drop-worms, and eggs of tussock moths, which 

 are formed on the outside of deserted cocoons. 



The trunks and larger branches of trees should be washed at least 

 once in each year, between the middle of June, (according to latitude) 

 with soft soap or a strong alkaline wash. If a hard rain ensues soon 

 after the soap is applied, the application should be repeated. If these 

 applications have been neglected and the trees covered with rough 

 bark, this should be scraped off before the application is made. This 

 applies especially as a preventive to attacks of the flat-headed borer — 

 Chrysobothris femorata. 



We recommend removing a small portion of the soil around the col- 

 lar of each tree, and placing in lieu thereof a mixture of soil and ashes 

 or lime, raising a slight mound. This work should be done in the 

 spring, before the middle of May, and the mound should be raised to 

 prevent the beetle from depositing her eggs so near the ground that 

 access to the larva? would be difficult. The soaping or washing, above 

 referred to, should be done previous to the mounding. 



The trunks of trees, near the ground, should be examined in the 

 last half of September or first half of October, for the larva? of the 

 round-headed apple-tree borer, which may be found by their saw-dust- 

 like castings; their burrows when found, with a knife, should be probed 

 with a flexible apple-sprout, which will destroy them. 



The larva? of the flat-headed borer may be found in the trunk or 

 near the base of the largest branches, by discolored spots in the bark. 

 They may be readily exposed and destroyed while young in September, 

 by taking off a thin shaving of this discolored bark with a sharp 

 knife. If neglected till they have penetrated the tree it is not advis- 

 able to cut into the tree to destroy them. 



Trees infested with bark-lice may be partially cleared of them by 

 washing with an alkaline wash, applied at the time the young are 

 hatched, which, in Illinois, is from May fifteenth to June tenth, ac- 

 cording to latitude. Fine lime-dust thrown over the trees at this time 

 will prove efficacious in destroying them, and also plant-lice, as well 

 as prevent the depositing of eggs by the codling-moth. 



The Tent-caterpillars, fall web-worms and others, which form webs 

 and nest together while young, should be carefully picked off, while 

 the worms are young and are in their nests, and burned or otherwise 

 destroyed. 



For the destruction of the canker worm we recommend the rope and 

 tin remedy described by Dr. Le Baron. Having removed the rough 

 bark from the trunk of the tree, " Take a piece of inch rope— old worn 

 out rope is as good as new—tack one end to the trunk, two feet or less 

 from the ground, with a shingle nail driven in so that the head shall 

 not project beyond the level of the rope, bring the rope around the 

 tree and let it lap by the beginning an inch or two, cut it off and fasten 

 it in the same manner." Get the tin-man to cut up some sheets of 

 tin into strips four inches wide and fasten them together endwise so 

 that they shall be long enough to go around the tree over the rope ; 

 put one of these strips around the tree outside the rope so that the 



