Destruction of Insects. 53 



produced as many colonies of worms. The remainder of the trees I 

 left untouched until the 10th of May, when I found tlie worms were 

 hatched from the egg, and had commenced their slow, but sure rav- 

 ages. I watched them, from time to time, until many branches had 

 been spoiled of their leaves, and in the autumn were entirely destitute 

 of fruit; while the three trees which had been stripped of their eggs, 

 were flush with foliage, each limb without exception, ripening its fruit. 



My observations and experiments were not confined to the apple ; 

 many other trees are attacked by a caterpillar whose habits are 

 similar to the one above named. From a small butternut tree in my 

 own garden, I took seven bunches of eggs, in the spring, and the 

 subsequent season my tree was wholly exempt from the worm which 

 had destroyed a great part of the leaves, the two previous summers. 



These observations may not be new, yet I have never seen in- 

 structions from the pen of any one, for destroying them in the egg, 

 but always after they were hatched, and had commenced their dep- 

 redations. 



Now I am sanguine in the belief, that a garden or orchard can be 

 cleared of these deposites of eggs, in one tenth part of the time usu- 

 ally taken to clear them of the worm, by the brush method ; for it 

 must be recollected, that these deposites are always made visible to 

 the eye, by the natural covering of a leaf; never in one instance, 

 have 1 found them otherwise. 



Small trees can be kept clean by the hands, while those upon the 

 larger trees, out of reach of the hand, can be easily destroyed by a 

 httle straw or flax, tied on the end of a pole, then set on fire, and 

 applied to the eggs, which instantly expand and burst with a consid- 

 erable crackling noise. These eggs are not affected by a cold of 

 forty or fifty degrees below zero, while an application of heat as 

 before named instantly destroys them. 



1 do not call the attention of your readers to this common worm, 

 as being anything new to them, l3ut merely to the fact that the rav- 

 ages of this caterpillar can be prevented in the above mentioned 

 simple manner, and at a period too, when time can be better spared 

 for the purpose, than in the busy month of May. 



There are other noxious insects, whose habits ought to be better 

 known by all who have a fruit garden, particularly the peach borer 

 {JEgeria exitiosa), and the Curculio of the apple, green gage, he, 

 which does such incalculable injury to our good fruit. 



Should you consider the few hints given of service, and meet your 



approbation, you may possibly hear from me again on the best 



method of preventing the premature decay of our peach trees by the 



insidious borer. -.^ -d tj t ' 



Yours, B. Hale Ives. 



Salem, Jan. 10, 183.5. 



We shall be extremely happy to receive a continuation of such very valuable 

 remarks, for we have long been aware tiiat not sufTicient attention iias been given 

 by horticulturists, to that branch of natural history which relates to those insects 

 VOL. I. NO. II. H 



