356 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



labor. lie hooks tins around the trees the same used to keep 

 the cut-worm at bay. These are some larger than the tree, and 

 four or five inches wide. He fills in between them and the 

 tree with earth. This is done about the first week of July, 

 after the cut-worms have ceased work, and in time for the first 

 eggs of the borer. In September he removes the tins and de- 

 stroys the caterpillars, which can be done with far less labor 

 than when we have to dig them from beneath the earth at its 

 usual level. 



The late Secretary Bateham, of Ohio, was the first to recom- 

 mend the carbolic acid mixture, already referred to in treating 

 of the radish maggot and apple tree borers, to repel the peach 

 borer. It should be turned on the earth at the base of the 

 tree in July and August. It prevents the moth from egg- 

 laying. 



Pear or Cherry Tree Slugs. Selandria cerasi, Peck. 

 Family, Tenthredinidce. Order, Hymenoptera. The destructive 

 proclivities of these slimy " worms " are far too well known 

 in our State. I have seen cherry trees in various localities 

 badly injured by them, and the pear trees of one of our first 

 pomologists almost destroyed. Few insects are so easily over- 

 come; so with knowledge, vigilance, and promptness we may 

 expect to soon be rid of a grievous pest. 



NATURAL HISTORY. The shining black fly, less than one- 

 fourth of an inch-long, appears in early and late summer. The 

 eggs are deposited on the under side of the leaves. The 

 larvae are brown, possess twenty feet, taper posteriorly, and are 

 covered with a viscid, olive-colored slime, hence the name slug. 

 Not all so-called slugs among insect larvae are characterized by 

 this unctuous covering, but all the larvae of this destructive 

 family may be quickly determined by the excessive number of 

 legs, as they never contain less than eighteen, and sometimes as 

 many as twenty-two. No other insect larvae have to exceed 

 sixteen, the number generally possessed by caterpillars. These 

 larvae only eat the cuticle of the leaf, thus causing it to turn 

 brown and sere. In three or four weeks the larvae have ma- 

 tured, and pass down the tree and enter the earth, where they 



