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or branches, but had thrown out lateral twig-s along- the branches, 

 from adventitious buds. Trees which had been sprayed were with- 

 out exception in excellent condition, and those which had been 

 but lig-htly infested showed little or no injury. 



Notwithstanding- the treatment, enormous numbers of the 

 canker-worms had gone into the earth at the end of May for their 

 pupation, and were certain to emerg-e as adults the following- 

 spring- to renew the attack on the trees. With a view to setting 

 on foot early preventive measures, Mr, E. S. G. Titus was sent 

 from the oftice to Jacksonville January 22, 1902, bearing letters to 

 the superintendents of the state institutions there, and to citizens 

 prominent in the operations of the preceding- year. He was in- 

 structed to describe and demonstrate a method of banding- the 

 trees which should prevent the females from ascending the trunks, 

 and to assist in organizing and supervising volunteer work so far 

 as might be necessary. Previous experiments, made on the state 

 university campus at Urbana, had served to test various devices, 

 and as a result it was decided to recommend the use of printers' 

 ink, made a little more fluent by the addition of oil and spread in 

 a thick layer upon a belt of paper tied around the tree. 



The following is the full procedure used at Jacksonville. 

 First, a strip of cheap cotton batting, not glazed, 2 or 3 inches 

 wide, was laid around the trunk of a tree at the proper distance 

 from the ground, and over this a 4 to 6-inch strip of tarred paper 

 was lightly tied around the middle with ordinary wrapping- twine. 

 Upon this paper belt was spread, with a flat trowel or a wooden 

 paddle, a layer a fourth of an inch thick of cheap printers' ink 

 which had been mixed with a small amount of railroad car-wheel 

 oil — ^just enough to make it easy to spread. It was the special 

 purpose of this addition of oil to make the ink more sticky in cool 

 weather. If the surface of the tar belt becomes slightly hardened 

 by exposure so as to permit an insect to cross it, it may be made 

 sticky again by brushing it with a little of the same kind of oil. 



The mixture was spread on a paper band mainly to keep it off 

 the bark. So applied, the unsightly band could readily be re- 

 moved when the canker-worm season was over, whereas, if applied 

 to the trunk directly it would have remained for many months to 

 disfigure the trees. It is, furthermore, a practice of doubtful pru- 

 dence to apply any oily substance to the bark of a tree with the ex- 

 pectation of leaving it there a considerable time, especially to a 

 tree which is the product of a generation or two of growth, and 

 which is likely to continue, if properly cared for, as a comfort and 

 delight to many g-enerations to come. 



