292 THE FRUIT GROWER'S QUID I-:. 



By midwinter the most obnoxious of winter moths have deposited their eggs. 

 From that time and before the buds commence swelling, spray the trees thoroughly 

 with the caustic soda and potash solution (page 251) when dry, and with a prospect of 

 fine weather. This will bring off many of the eggs. Keep the bands smeared and 

 effective up to the third week in March, when the stems and large branches of old trees 

 should be washed with this mixture : soft soap, 2 pounds, dissolve by boiling in 2 gal- 

 lons of water, remove from the fire and add 1 quart of petroleum while hot. Churn 

 violently with a spray pump five minutes, and dilute with hot water till 8 gallons of 

 solution are made. Apply with a brush, reaching well into every crack, crevice, and 

 angle of the bark, but not allowing the mixture to run down and saturate the soil. 

 This will destroy all hibernating pests, including red spider, as well as eggs, but it 

 must be used with caution on young trees. For those we advise a mixture of 1 pound 

 of freshly-burned lime and 1 pound of flowers of sulphur. Place the lime in a bucket, 

 sprinkle water over it, then the sulphur, only using water to slake the lime, then add 

 clay, and form the whole into the consistence of paint, by adding the requisite quantity 

 of the foregoing soft soap and petroleum solution. Apply with a brush to the stem 

 and branches, thoroughly coating them. This not only destroys eggs and insects, but 

 is useful against "borers." The wash has no deleterious effect on the bark, for the acid 

 reaction of the fats and oils is neutralized by the clay. Thus the bark is not hardened,, 

 as occurs when a strong mixture of soft soap and petroleum is applied to smooth 

 young stems and branches. As the heat increases, the pigment gradually loses its- 

 tenacity and falls away, leaving the bark more elastic, and the sap flows freely in 

 enlarged channels. After the stems have been dressed and the debris at the base of the 

 trees cleared away by scraping off the loose surface, fresh bands may be placed round 

 the stems to prevent the ascent of caterpillars and weevils. 



The eggs of the winter moth do not hatch freely in a lower mean temperature than 45 r 

 but they incubate quickly in a mean temperature of 50. Sometimes the caterpillars 

 appear by the third week in March, and seem to be influenced solely by the weather. 

 They generally commence hatching out at the same time as their trees cast the scales 

 of the buds, and become plentiful by the time the leaves unfold and flowers appear- 

 Caterpillars possess strong preservative instinct, letting themselves down to the ground 

 by a silken thread when disturbed. This peculiarity has long been taken advantage* of to 

 <>ffect their destruction. l)y placing sheets under the trees and shaking them sharply r 

 the caterpillars full or become suspended, when the threads are readily detached. 



