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she still has to cross the tar in the trough. We did not hear 

 that this remedy had been tried sufficiently to test its value, 

 but if not too expensive, it may prove a useful preventive 

 against the ravages of the canker worm. 



The application of tar or printers' ink to the trunk of the 

 tree, with or without tarred paper, is probably the most common 

 method of preventing the ascent of the grub. It is generally 

 believed that ink is better than tar, because it requires less 

 frequent applications, still there is a wide difference in the 

 estimates of its value by those who have used it. 



Mr. Sawyer states that in his case ink was too expensive, 

 and yet the writer of this has used ink on an orchard of ten or 

 twelve hundred trees for the last four years, and has protected 

 them from substantial injury to the fruit at an expense probably 

 less than would have been required by any other known method. 

 These apparently conflicting statements can doubtless be recon- 

 ciled on the theory of difference in location. It is well known 

 that the grub begins to run as soon as the ground is thawed 

 after a severe freeze, and continues to run whenever the 

 weather is warm enough through the winter and spring until 

 the season is over. The warmer and dryer the location the 

 sooner and oftener will the grub make her appearance, and 

 consequently an orchard situated on a southerly exposure, on 

 warm land, will require very much more attention than one on 

 a cold, wet soil exposed to the north. Mr. Sawyer's orchard 

 is situated on warm, dry land, while mine is on a colder soil, 

 inclined to the north, and hence there is no doubt that it would 

 require much more labor and expense to protect his orchard 

 equally with mine by this method of using tar or ink. 



The chief objection to the use of tar or ink is the uncertainty 

 of accomplishing the desired end. The grubs will sometimes 

 run when least expected, or a storm will set in and prevent 

 renewal of the tar or ink, while it nowise hinders the grub. 

 Sometimes, too, in inking a large orchard, the workmen become 

 careless and occasionally miss a tree, or make an imperfect 

 application of the ink, so that the grubs can pass, and one 

 omission of this kind is fatal when the grubs run thickly. 

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