THE CANKER WORM. 



L^ pAHE Canker Worm is reported 

 as being very destructive to 

 apple orchards in some parts 

 of tlie Niagara peninsula. A 

 box of apple twigs already half denuded 

 of foliage, was brought to this office on 

 the 31st of May, accompanied by the 

 anxious inquiry for some remedy. Of 

 course we suggested spraying with Paris 

 green, but the person claimed that he 

 had already tried this without effect, and 

 that in the summer of 1896, his orchard 

 looked as if a fire had been through it, 

 owing to the devastation of this worm. 



Fig. 1150. — Moths- of Canker Worm 



Probably the Paris green was not put 

 on in a sufficiently fine spray, and conse- 

 quently ran off without covering the 

 foliage, or perhaps it was not applied 

 underneath the foliage, and the worm 

 could find plenty of food free from poi- 

 son, or perhaps not continued faithfully 

 enough. 



We also suggested the trial of a circle 

 of sticky substance about the trunk, 

 applied in early fall on a paper band- 

 age, or a circle of cotton batting. The 

 object is to trap the female moth be- 

 fore she lays her eggs. She is wing- 

 less (see Fig. 1150 b) and after com- 

 ing out of her chrysalis, her first aim is 

 to ascend the trunk of an apple tree, 

 and meet the male moth (Fig. 11 50) 

 This plan is effective if persevered in, 

 but must be kept up for a long time, for 

 the females successively emerge from 

 their cocoons during the mild days both 



of the fall and the early 

 spring ; it is consequently 

 much more troublesome 

 than spraying with Paris 

 green, and is rather a pre- 

 vention than a remedy. 

 But it has been thoroughly 

 demonstrated that Paris 

 green will effect the des- 

 truction of the Canker 

 Worm if persevered in. 

 Of course when the worm 

 has been neglected until 

 it has become very numer- 

 ous, it will require a large 

 quantity of poisoned foli- 

 age to effect their com- 

 plete route, and consider- 

 able expense. Prof. Bailey 

 used 1500 gallons of Paris 

 green water in seven days, 

 on 240 trees, from May 

 loth to 17th in the work 

 of destroying these worms 

 in a badly infested orchard, 

 but he was successful in 

 utterly routing it at last 



Professor Fletcher, 

 Dominion Entomologist, 

 writes : — Notwithstanding 

 sional complaints that Paris green is 

 not a very satisfactory remedy for the 

 Canker Worm, this is still the best 

 remedy and the one that we have to 

 rely on for the conirolling of this insect. 

 The chief thins to be remembered is 



V\u. II.- 



liulletiii. 



the occa- 



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