60 



CAN 



CAN 



greatest care, till the latter end of 

 May, or till the time when the 

 hatching of Ihe worms is common- 

 ly over, which will be earlier or 

 later, according to the difference 

 of climate. 



Another mode of tarring, and 

 which bids fair to be preferred to 

 the foregoing, is as follows : — 

 Take two pretty wide pieces of 

 board, plane them, make semi-cir- 

 cular notches in each, fitting them 

 to the stem, or body of the tree, 

 and fasten them securely together 

 at the ends, so that the most vio- 

 lent winds and storms may not dis- 

 place nor stir them. The crevices 

 betwixt the boards and the tree 

 may be easily stopped with rags, 

 or tow. Then smear the under 

 sides of the boards with tar. The 

 tar, being defended from the direct 

 rays of the sun, will hold its tena 

 city the longer ; and, therelbre, 

 will not need to be so frequently 

 renewed. And the trees may be 

 more secured in this way from the 

 dripping of the tar, as a margin of 

 two or three inches, next to the 

 tree, may be left unsmeared. 



If the trees are small, the stems 

 may be encircled with cartridge 

 paper, in the shape of an inverted 

 funnel. The outside of the paper 

 should be well smeared with fish 

 oil. The insects will proceed to 

 the brim of the paper, but will not 

 be able to pass it ; as the oil will 

 hang on that part. 



Another expedient, much re- 

 commended is, to put a strip of 

 raw sheep or lamb skin round the 

 body of each tree, the woo! out- 

 wards. It is asserted, that, though 

 the insects can pass over hair and 



straw, they cannot pass over the 

 wool. But, to render this the 

 more effectual, it will be proper to 

 open the fibres of the wool now 

 and then, with a coarse comb. 



When it so happens that the 

 worms are permitted to prevail in 

 an orchard for two or three years, 

 the limbs will be so corrupted, that 

 the trees are not apt to recover 

 their fruitfulness, although the as- 

 cent of the worms should be after- 

 wards prevented. In such a case, 

 it is advisable to cut off all the 

 limbs from the trees, near to the 

 stock where they are produced, 

 that so the tops may be wholly re- 

 newed by fresh shoots, as they will 

 be in a few years. 



It is not less than about fifty 

 years, since this insect began its 

 depredations in New-England, in 

 the parts which had been longest 

 cultivated. But perhaps there is 

 some reason to hope that Provi- 

 dence is about to extirpate them : 

 For a kind of little bird has lately 

 made its appearance in some parts 

 of the country, which feeds upon 

 the canker worms. Should these 

 birds have a rapid increase, the in- 

 sects will be thinned, so as to be 

 less formidable, if not wholly de- 

 stroyed. 



The Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Journal Vol. 111. No. 4, contains 

 some remarks on the Canker worm 

 by J. Lowell, Esq. from which we 

 extract the follown)g. 



" 1 had the turf dug in around 

 sixty apple trees and the earth 

 laid smooth. 1 then took three 

 hogsheads of effete or air slacked 

 lime and strewed it an inch thick 

 round my trees to the extent of 



