280 AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



they will fall if the tree is suddenly j arred by a smart stroke 

 with a mallet upon its body, or by a blow with a hammer upon 

 the end of the stump of a branch cut off for this purpose, which 

 may remain from year to year, being covered in the intervals 

 of its use with grafting composition No. 3. 



When the insects drop they instantly fold themselves up as 

 closely as possible, and appear like the small dead buds or 

 scales that fall with them, so that to secure them the whole 

 gatherings of the sheet should be burned or scalded. 



Careful attention given to the trees in this manner from the 

 time the fruit sets until it is one fourth grown will generally 

 secure the crop ; but the most promising known mode is to 

 pave closely under the trees, with clam or oyster shells of more 

 convenient than other material, or plant them so that their 

 tops lean over wate'r ; the instinct of the insect leading it to 

 avoid depositing its eggs in fruit from which, when they drop, 

 its progeny can find no safe retreat. 



These latter precautions have in numerous instances and in 

 intelligent hands proved successful, and are worthy of careful 

 trial. Whatever else is done, however, the falling fruit should 

 be gathered up daily and boiled or burned ; mere scalding 

 should not be trusted. Hogs, unless starved, will not eat 

 them. Hens with broods of chickens destroy numbers of the 

 young worms where the ground is clear, so that they can 

 scratch freely, but are not to be expected to extirpate them, 

 especially if there are hiding-places near. 



This insect, or some other of similar habit, infests the cherry 

 and the apple ; the cherry, however, does not drop as the 

 plum, and in the apple the young worm does not seek the 

 heart of the fruit, as the core worm, but burrows around irreg- 

 ularly just under the skin, so that when peeled the apple 

 shows a net- work of brown lines. 



WINGED INSECTS. 

 SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUST, OR CICADA SEPTEMDECIM. 



Of this remarkable insect there are quite a number of sepa- 

 rate broods or swarms, each having its particular section or 

 district. They do not appear simultaneously. The northern- 



