THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



65 



arriveJ at that they had probably eaten the buds. 

 In the fall, mounds of earth were thrown up aronud 

 the stems of these trees, and of another lot two 

 years planted. These mounds were being levelled on 

 the 6th of May last; and soon after conimencinf:; the 

 work, several rather large cut-worm like grubs were 

 noticed. This, coupled with the fact, that in the 

 preceding spring, I had caught a worm like these 

 in tjje very act of eating out a bud high up the 

 stem of a young Catalpa, around which I had 

 thrown a blanket the evening before, to shield it 

 from frost, induced me to suspect that they and not 

 the birds destroyed the buds. This led to an ex- 

 amination of the untouched mounds; and in the 

 soil immediately surrounding the stem of each tree, 

 I found from about five to ten of these worms. 

 Twenty-three wore taken from the soil round a 

 plant of the Home Beauty apple. To save my 

 trees, 1 knew of notliing likely to be so efficient as 

 parsistent hand-picking. I therefore searched the 

 soil round the trees every other day, (a stout table 

 fork is handy for this purpose,) taking one lot one 

 day and the other the day after ; and I continued 

 for some time to find more or less of the worms, 

 and alwa3's near the stems of the trees. 



Previous to the Uth of May, buds had been destroyed 

 Ivit not to the same extent as in the preceding year, 

 owing probably to the spring being a late one. On a 

 warm dewy night about the middle of the month, I 

 took a lamp and suddenly jarred several of the 

 trees; when some of these worms came tumbling 

 to the ground. The evidence against them would 

 have been more conclusive, if I had searched the 

 branches and found them there and at work. That 

 however, I omitted to do. I have had fruit-trees 

 planted here sixteen years, but never had the buds 

 destroyed so as to attract my attention before the 

 last two years; nor have I had any complaints from 

 my neighbors on this point, except during that time. 

 Orchards are not very common here, but in three 

 others in this town, I know young trees have been 

 injured as in my own during the last two years. 



There is a paragraph in the Af/riculfun'.-it, for 

 June, 1806, in which I suspect birds are blamed 

 for the work of these insects. It is said there, that 

 J. Hyde, of Washington County, 111., finds his 

 prnrh-twigs wlioUi) stripped of buds ; and that he 

 thinks it was done by a bird, and wishes to know 

 what bird does it. It is then remarked, that part- 

 ridges eat buds of apple-trees, but were not known 

 to touch those of the peach. In deep snows, 

 when hazel catkins liave become scarce, partridges 

 will visit the orchard, usually very early in the 

 morning and late in the evening; but the buds they 

 feed upon are blossom buds, or the prominent buds 

 of spurs, not unfrequently wrenching off and swal- 

 lowing part of the spur as well as the bud. Part- 

 ridges, however, could not stand on many shoots 

 on my trees, the buds of which have been destroyed, 

 nor could they reach them froifl neighboring 

 branches.* And I think it would puzzle even a 



* r In further ilhistr.ition of this subject, which has al- 

 re.ady been referred to in the Pkactical Entomologist 

 (Vol. 11, p. 4ti, note 2nd.), I clip the following from the 



wren or the white-throated nuthatch, to eat the 

 buds and the bark of some slender, nearly horizon- 

 tal twigs which were thus injured. 



The Pr.\ctical Entomologist states, that by 

 the term " cutworm" is to be understood a lO-footed 

 worm. I counted 14 legsonly on these worms — three 

 pairs of spine-like legs in front and four pairs of 

 what appear to be called prologs in the hinder 

 part. Are the two others situated on the last joint 

 of the body counted to make up the number 16, 

 and are these two tho so-called "anal prologs? 

 [Yes; B. D. w.] 



I have not found the young shoots of trees or 

 shrubs cut off in summer, as described by Dr. Har- 

 ris. In the extract from the Prairie Farmer, it 

 is said that "these worms prefer dwarf pears and 

 apples, and that the longer stemmed trees of orch- 

 ards are almost exempt from their attacks." I 

 grow no dwarf apples; mine are all standard trees 

 worked on the ordinary apple stock. I have not 

 noticed whether fruit buds are first taken, but 

 older bearing trees have not had their fruit buds 

 destroyed the last two years. Currants, gooseber- 

 ries, and raspberries, though growing near these in- 

 fested apple-trees, have not had their buds de- 

 stroyed. My last year's crop of the two last named 

 fruits was indeed the best I have ever grown here. 

 The buds of Roses, Spirasas, Weigelias, Honeysuck- 

 les and Lilacs have not been taken hitherto. Grape 

 vines have had some buds destroyed, but by what 

 means I do not know. Every bud save two was 

 destroyed on the Catalpa, the night it was covered. 

 The buds were but just starting, appearing to the 

 naked eye like small purple points, and they were 

 eaten away to the very wood. A small plant of 

 the common snowball shrub planted last spring had 

 two sets of buds destroyed. I then cut the head 

 well back and tied it up in musquito netting, 

 liateut buds finally started, and my plant was saved. 

 The buds of this plant were probably destroyed by 

 tho cutworms, but I have no proof that such was 

 the case. 



The various expedients I have adopted, to keep 

 down the ordinary cutworm, are probably generally 

 known. Hand-picking ranks first. By taking ad- 

 vantage of the odds and ends of time, garden plants 

 may be looked over daily, and wherever a plant is 

 cut down the worm should be found and destroyed. 

 By taking a lamp and making a raid upon them on 

 warm still nights, their ranks may be considerably 

 thinned. The paper funnel affords considerable 

 protection to newly-planted things, if stiff writing 

 paper is used. An old lady of my acquaintance is 

 in the habit of placing manure under any plant she 



New York Semi- Weekly Tribune, March 1, 186T.— B. D. W.] 

 In a Bad Bo.r.—D. BvnoN Waitk, Springwater, N. Y.: I 

 have an orchard adjoining a few acres of beech and ma- 

 ple, with heavy undergrowth, and the partridges come 

 out and eat and strip the buds from the apple-trees, and 

 last year those nearest the woods did not bear a peck, 

 while those at a distance bore well. I have not killed a 

 partridge for fifteen years. I do not believe in killing 

 birds; but what shall I do ? 



The answer is, do nothing. It would not be proper 

 even to scare the partridges', for that would hurt their 

 feelings. 



