[ 436 ] 16 



and consequently but few lying upon the ground. Put two bands upon 

 the trunk, one a foot and a half above the other. 



Examined July 23d, a moderate number of apples having in the mean- 

 time fallen upon the groimd : 



Whole number in the lower band 150 



Whole number in the upper band 110 



The bands in this experiment were made of carpet six inches wide 

 and long enough to go twice round the tree, making a very abundant 

 covert for the worms. As might have been anticipated, in this case the 

 greater part of the worms in the upper band were found in its upper 

 half, indicating that the worms had reached it by descending from 

 above ; and, on the other hand, the greater part of the worms in the 

 lower band were in its lower half, showing that they had come up from 

 the ground. We say the greater part, but not all : implying that some 

 worms in each case had passed over one band and gone on to the next. 



The above tables furnish data for many interesting and practical de- 

 ductions. 



First, as respects the question now under consideration, namely, Wliat 

 proportion of the worms leaves the api)les before they fall from the tree ; 

 if we add together all the worms found in the highest and the lowest 

 bands, respectively, and divide those found in the middle or upper trunk 

 bands equally between the other two, we shall have four hundred and 

 thirty six in the lower bands, and two hundred and ninety in the upper, 

 implying at first view that much the larger number came up from the 

 giound. But there are several circumstances in these experiments which 

 must be taken into account, and which will somewhat modify this conclu- 

 sion. First, many of the hmbs had no bands upon them, and the worms 

 from these may be presumed to have found covert chiefly in the upper 

 bauds on the trunk. Second, two of the trees experimented upon were 

 large rough trees, and a part of the worms undoubtedly spun up under 

 the scales of bark on the limbs above the bands. And, thirdly, we do 

 not know what proportion of the worms may have let themselves aown 

 to the ground by threads, and then found shelter under the lowest bands. 

 Taking these circumstances into account, we shall perhaps arrive at an 

 approximation sufficiently accurate for practical purposes if we divide 

 the whole number of worms equally between the upper and lower bauds, 

 from which we infer that about half of the worms crawl down the tree, 

 and the other half reach the ground either in the apples or by threads. 

 We must infer from this, so far as one series of experiments enables us 

 to judge, that the gathering of windfall apples, either by onrselves or by 

 the aid of domestic animals, enables us to destroy less than half of the 

 Codliug- worms. 



