102 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



by being nipped in. He had seen the benefit of it upon the pear. 

 There are some varieties, the Madeline, for instance, which grow 

 rapidly in the latter part of the season, and the frost comes while 

 the wood is soft. Shorten it in and it will ripen the wood. 



The Chairman remarked that if the laterals are cut the top 

 must be left. It will not do to cut both at the same time. 



Mr. Peter G. Bergen had tried this method upon peach trees, 

 but the effect had been to cause the tree to send out a large 

 number of laterals, making it a bush that he could not see 

 through. 



INSECTS. 



Mr. Bergen proceeded to say that he had had trouble in raising 

 currants, from a worm which would bore the branch ; and this 

 year the worms have attacked the fruit itself. They were extend- 

 ing their ravages to the gooseberries, blackberries and pear trees. 

 He had been very much troubled with slugs. The trouble seemed 

 to be rapidly increasing. Peaches drop off as if stung by some 

 insect. 



The Chairman explained briefly how to prune to avoid the too 

 close branching of the tree, which tends to harbor insects. 



Mr. Carpenter said that the more evergreens are planted about 

 a dwelling the more birds and the more fruit there will be. If 

 birds are encouraged they will rout the insects. 



Dr. Trimble exhibited specimens of the pupas of the measure 

 worm, Avhich he had obtained from the city parks. He had found 

 many of them empty, having a hole upon one side. An ichneu- 

 mon fly had attacked the measure worm in this city. It deposits 

 its eggs in the body of the worm, and after it has spun the cocoon 

 they hatch, and destroy it. Probably by another year the 

 measure worm will have been destroyed by this fly. There are 

 many varieties of the span worm — a measure worm. In New 

 Haven the elms were saved by encircling the trees with some- 

 thing which would prevent the female, which was without wings, 

 from crawling up. But there are varieties, of which both male 

 and female have wings. The only remedies are to destroy the 

 eggs in the winter or spring, as they are found, in clusters upon 

 the tree, and the ichneumon fly. There are few or no birds in 

 the city, and therefore our parks are perfect cabinets for the 

 entomologist. The ichneumon fly seems to be the provision of 

 nature to prevent the too great increase of this class of insects. 

 The Hessian fly a few years ago threatened to destroy our entire 



