PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE. 237 



on account of the structure and habits of the female, 

 she can generally be prevented from depositing her 

 eggs. Had she wings, nothing could be done ; but as 

 she is wingless, and is forced to climb up the trunks 

 of trees before she can lay her eggs, it is mostly 

 possible to prevent her from doing so. If the trunks 

 of the trees be kept smeared with a sticky compound, 

 renewed as soon as it begins to harden, vast numbers 

 of the females can be interrupted in their march up the 

 tree, and detained until they are slaughtered by the 

 gardener. 



Then, at night, the gardener should examine the 

 trunks of all trees by the aid of a lantern, and he will 

 be sure to find a number of female Winter Moths, 

 each desirous of depositing her stock of two hundred 

 eggs. I should fancy that birdlime might be useful. 

 A mixture of Stockholm tar and cart-grease has been 

 recommended ; but if I had any standard fruit-trees, 

 especially plums, greengages, or filberts, I should try 

 the efficacy of bird-lime. In this part of the country, 

 where cherry orchards abound, the fruit-growers paint 

 the trunks of the trees with whitewash mixed with 

 weak size. This process may or may not be effica- 

 cious, but there is no doubt that it is very unsightly, 

 making the otherwise beautiful cherry-orchard an ab- 

 solute eyesore. 



When the caterpillar has become too large to be 

 contained within the bud, it turns its attention to the 

 young leaves, fixing its silken threads to their edges, 

 and drawing two or three together, so as to form a 

 sort of tent, in which it lives. It is not at all particular 

 as to the tree on which it feeds, and, although it cer- 



