GENERAL PRACTICE. ENEMIES. 283 



thoroughly cleansed in stem and limb, removing all rough and loose bark, then washing 

 with a salt brine, and spraying all parts with the caustic soda and potash solution 

 named at page 251. 



All dead leaves and stones must be cleared from under the trees, and the ground 

 dressed with quicklime, following early in spring with a dressing of superphosphate of 

 lime, 3 cwt. ; kainit, 1 cwt. ; sulphate of ammonia, \\ cwt. ; sulphate of iron, | cwt. ; 

 mixed, per acre, or 4 to 5 pounds per rod from the stems of the trees to the outside 

 spread of the branches. Weevils like nothing better than to be left alone : the disturbance 

 of the soil and application of chemical fertilisers upset them, and are beneficial to the 

 trees. Though furnished with wings, the weevils usually ascend the trees by the stems ; 

 the females seldom fly, but the males use their wings freely. Sticky bands placed 

 round the stems early in spring when the buds commence swelling, and keeping the 

 bands smeared until the blossoms expand, capture the invaders. In some instances, 

 however, trees are so rough in stem and branch that the weevils never leave them, and 

 few are then caught on the sticky bands ; therefore, when the blossom buds are swell- 

 ing it is a good plan to spread white sheets under the trees, and shake them sharply ; the 

 weevils then fall, and may be collected and thrown into rough trays brushed over inside 

 with gas tar. Evening is the best time to shake the trees, for the weevils fly in the 

 morning, and those which fall are better seen on white sheets than on the dark ground ; 

 the shaking must be repeated at short intervals until the flowers expand. 



Infested flowers should be removed and burned. Spraying the trees before the 

 buds develop with a petroleum emulsion (page 261) acts as a deterrent to this and 

 other enemies. The greatest injuries from this pest attend negligent culture, and 

 freedom from it is most noticeable in clean trees and well- cultivated ground. 



Caterpillars. The infestation of trees by caterpillars has long been a source of 

 anxiety to the fruit grower. Continental, Canadian and United States horticulturists 

 aver that without means of keeping these in check their occupation would be gone. 

 Except firing a gun to blow a web-net of small ermine caterpillars to atoms, shaking 

 the boughs violently to bring down those feeding on the foliage, hand-picking and other 

 similar measures, nothing has been attempted in this country until recently to prevent 

 or systematically destroy the vast and increasing hordes of caterpillars that devastate 

 fruit trees. A brief description of the most prevalent will first be given, and then 

 means of prevention and destruction, as generally applicable, be pointed out. 



Fiyurc-of- Eight Moth (Diloba cceruleocephala).This moth (Fig. 86) appears early 



o o 2 



