228 SM.VLL ANIMAIJ5 AND INSECTS. [Chap. 11. 



site could be found to destroy tlie curculio. Perhaps it may be destroyed in 

 time, as tlie Ilessian-fly has been. 



The Measuring Worm. — Solon Kobinson — If any one desires to extirpate 

 the worms that infest the trees in our parks, now is the time to do it by de- 

 stroying the eggs. Scraping and washing witli potash is the best protection 

 of the boles of the trees. If we had plenty of birds we should get rid of the 

 worms. It is only in cities, where there are so few birds, that these pests 

 are so troublesome. Insects are the natural food of all birds. Even the 

 domestic ones that we keep about our homestead destroy untold quantities 

 of pestiferous insects that could not be got rid of in any other way. The 

 greatest profit in keeping poultry is the good the animals do in their inces- 

 sant pursuit of bugs and worms, which, if not destroyed, would in their turn 

 destroy the food-plants that we cultivate. I know of no contrivance of man 

 that will protect him from insects. 



Mr. Pardee — In New Haven, trees have been protected by zinc troughs, 

 filled with oil, around the boles. 



Destroying Trees to Get Rid of Worms. — Andrew S. Fuller stated that 

 the worms in Brooklyn were so bad that the city councils were talking of 

 cutting down all the trees in that city, to get rid of the worms. 



Solon Robinson — They had better cut down the boys who destroy the 

 birds. 



More than forty years ago, the " canker-worms" were terribly destructive, 

 for several years, of apple-trees in Connecticut, and attempts were made to 

 prevent their ravages by making a band of tar, two or three inches wide, 

 around the bole of the tree. It proved effectual while the tar was soft ; but, 

 unless renewed every day, and sometimes twice a day, the surface dried so 

 that the worms crawled over; and I have seen them so thick that they 

 crawled into the tar and stuck, and then others went over them, and so on 

 until they formed a bridge, and thus defeated their strong opponent. 



Dr. Trimble — ^The lindens of New Jersey, in former years, have been very 

 much affected, but this year they have not been injured. I believc-the in- 

 sect has been destroyed by parasites, and I hope it will be in Brooklyn. I 

 hope that no one will think of cutting down trees to get rid of the worms. 



Origin of " Bug-Poioder.''^ — The Secretary stated that Lyon, the great 

 bug powder man, has gone home to Europe, worth an immense sum, and it 

 is now published that the powder is made of a conimon French field-plant 

 of a species of the chamomile. 



All the effective insect powders now offered for sale owe their efiiciency 

 to red chamomile. It is sold by some of the druggists. Rub it to a fine dust, 

 mix it with some cheap divisor, and it is the best insect powder known. 

 When dusted into the cracks and corners of ceilings, etc., out walk the 

 cockroaches and all other intruders without fail. Dust the affected plants, 

 and you may keep them clear of insects. 



Mons. Radiguet states to the Society of Agriculture, Paris, that the plant 

 known as " Whiteflower Margaret" {Chrysaniheirmm cuanthennum), used as 



