SUCCESSFUL REMEDIAL MEASURES 125 



USELESS REMEDIAL MEASURES 



As is always the case when a little-known insect becomes 

 destructively abundant, a great many useless remedies for 

 these caterpillars have been proposed. One of the most fool- 

 ish of these is the insertion of sulphur in the trees in holes 

 bored by an auger — a time honored fake that has, at various 

 times, been proposed for all the ills that trees are heir to. 

 Kerosene has also been applied to bands around the trees, 

 greatly to the injury of the latter, as the kerosene soaks into 

 the sapwood and kills the tree. The authorities of one \'er- 

 mont town "sprayed many trees with a mixture of kerosene, 

 Paris green, and soapsuds, which burned the leaves very badly 

 and seemed to injure the trees." Such measures are usually 

 the result of ignorance. 



SUCCESSFUL REMEDIAL MEASURES 



In Bulletin 64 I printed a summary of the remedial meas- 

 ures, which, after a careful study of the insect, seemed likely 

 to be useful. As I then wrote, the practical value of most of 

 these measures depends largely upon the conditions under 

 which they are to be applied. A suggestion that is easily 

 applicable to a few small trees in an apple orchard may be 

 wholly inapplicable to the larger trees in a woodland. The 

 abundance of the caterpillars, the nature and number of the 

 trees infested, the season of the year, and the means at hand 

 are all to be taken into consideration. 



In the paragraphs below I have revised these directions by 

 incorporating the knowledge which the past season's experi- 

 ence with the pest has given, from our own observations as 

 well as from those of the various correspondents who replied 

 to the circulars sent out. 



Egg destruction. — There seems to me no reason for modify- 

 ing the statements made under this heading in Bulletin 64, 

 except to emphasize the fact that this method is not at all 

 practical in cases of serious infestation. On a bright day, 

 when the trees are bare of leaves, egg-masses may be easily 

 seen. The cutting off and burning of these masses is often 



