84 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



of the orchard, and set fire to the heaps in that 

 quarter from which the wind blows, so that the 

 smoke may thoroughly fumigate all the trees. Thus 

 the insects, which are supposed to be brought by 

 the wind, will be prevented from depositing their 



CANKER WORM. 



Of all the numerous tribes of insects which in- 

 fest fruit trees, and disappoint the hopes of the cul- 

 tivator, the canker worm, during the years of its 

 prevalence, is the most to be dreaded. This de- 

 structive insect has, therefore, baffled the efforts of 

 man, and, in despite of all means of prevention as 

 yet devised, commits its depredations, and deprives 

 whole orchards of foliage and fruit. The miller, 

 or moth, rises from the earth in the spring, conceals 

 itself during the day in holes and crevices under the 

 loose bark of apple trees, and may be easily found 

 by searching. The male has wings, but the female 

 appears to have none ; they are enabled, however, 

 to ascend the trunk of the tree, and crawl towards 

 the extremities of the twigs, where they deposit 

 their eggs, and as soon as the leaves unfold arid 

 sprout forth, the worm bursts from the egg and 

 commences its ravages. The worms soon spin for 

 themselves long threads, similar to those of spiders, 

 by which they are suspended in the air, and wafted 

 by the wind from tree to tree, and from one ad- 

 joining orchard to another, preying voraciously upon 

 the foliage, and giving the trees the appearance of 

 being burnt. Professor Peck, of Cambridge, has 

 favoured the publick with the most satisfactory 

 history of this insect, which has yet appeared. Ac- 

 cording to him, the worms descend by the trunks 

 of the trees in June, and immure themselves in the 

 earth near the trunks, and rarely, if ever, more 

 than three to four feet distant ; in grass land from 



