458 DISEASES AND IXSECTS. 



cocoons are left in the crevices. 2d. Examine all barrels, 

 bins, shelves, etc., where apples have been stored in cel- 

 lars or fruit-rooms. 3d. Place bandages of old cloth, car- 

 pet, or rags of any kind around the trunks and large 

 branches of every tree, say by ] st of July, to trap the 

 worms ; examine every week or two, and kill all worms 

 that have been trapped. 4th. Pick or knock off every 

 wormy fruit before the worm escapes, and destroy ; pick 

 up all that drop, and destroy in the same way. 



The Canker -Worm. This insect is confined chiefly to 

 ]STew England ; we have never seen it in New York. 



They generally emerge from the ground in March. 

 According to Professor Harris, some rise during the late 

 autumn and winter months. The female has no wings, 

 but crawls up the tree, and lays her eggs on the branches 

 in May, in clusters of 60 to 100 in each, glued to each other 

 and to the bark by a grayish varnish impervious to water ; 

 the little worms fall upon the leaves, and, when numerous, 

 devour them all, leaving only the mid-ribs. They leave 

 the trees when about four weeks old, and enter the ground. 

 Their effects are most visible in June, when the trees, di- 

 vested of their foliage, appear as if scorched by fire. 



As the female cannot fly, the great point is to prevent 

 her from crawling up; for this purpose various means 

 have been tried and are recommended. One of the most 

 effectual is to tie strips of canvas around the tree and cover 

 them with tar, renewing the tar during their whole season 

 of rising, or from October till May. Another is, to make 

 a close-fitting collar of boards around the base of the tree, 

 and keep the boards covered with tar. Mr. J. Dennis, of 

 Portsmouth, R. I., patented a circular leaden trough filled 

 with oil, which proves an effectual preventive. 



Caterpillars. Of these there are many kinds that are 

 more or less destructive to the- foliage of fruit trees; but 

 the Caterpillar described by Professor Harris as the 

 American Tent Caterpillar, is the one that commits such 



