144 TREE WOUNDS AND DISEASES 



specimens may be entirely cleared by shaking 

 the caterpillars into a sheet placed beneath 

 the tree. 



Wireworms. These occasionally do a great 

 amount of damage in beds of seedling trees, 

 particularly conifers, and in some instances 

 they attack and destroy the seeds before 

 germination. In the case of young conifers 

 they are gnawed completely through just above 

 or at the ground level, the beds in many 

 instances being strewn with the debris. Seed- 

 lings of Abies nobilis and A. Nordmanniana suffer 

 to a great extent, and in the case of a newly 

 formed nursery or freshly made up seed-beds 

 the attacks of the wireworms are always most 

 pronounced. In the case of fresh nursery 

 ground, paring off and burning a couple of 

 inches of the top soil in the autumn has been 

 attended with excellent results, as has also 

 dressing the ground with gas-lime. When 

 seedlings are attacked, trapping with sliced 

 carrots, mangold, or potatoes, varied with pieces 

 of oilcake as a bait, is to be recommended. 

 Dressing the seeds with red lead is very 

 advantageous to prevent not only wireworms 



