ON VEGETATION. 243 



In the years 1825 and 1826, the foliage of our 

 hedges in the spring months was unusually mangled by 

 the caterpillars of different moths; but in 1827 these 

 creatures had increased so much, that the entire leaves 

 of the sloe, and the white thorn, were consumed by 

 them ; the hedges, when consisting of these shrubs 

 alone, presented for miles the appearance of winter 

 sprays, covered with a cottony web. The other hedge 

 plants were little injured. The larvae of several species 

 of small creatures were concerned in this annihilation 

 of verdure ; but the little ermine moths (phalaena evony- 

 mella, and ph. padella) were the chief performers in 

 this denuding process. In July the perfected moths 

 swarmed about the scene of their birth in vast numbers ; 

 yet such was the retrieving power of nature, that by 

 the middle of August only a small portion of the injury 

 occasioned by these creatures was to be observed, the 

 summer shoot bursting out, and covering the sprays 

 with the verdure of spring. The chief singularity in 

 all this was the appearance of the sloe bush, all the 

 foliage being consumed by insects, or crisped away by 

 severe winds, leaving the sprays profusely covered with 

 the small young fruit, perfectly uninjured, and proceed- 

 ing in its growth ; so that, by the time the foliage was 

 renewed in August, it had obtained its usual size. This 

 was the case too with the crab, and some of the orch- 

 ard fruits, presenting the unusual sight of fruit grow- 

 ing alone on the boughs without leaves; so that in fact 

 the offices of inspiration, transpiration, and all their 

 consequences, usually accomplished by the leaves of 

 plants, must have been suspended, or performed b 

 other organs, as no deficiency of vegetative powers was 

 apparent. 



But insects alone were not the cause of all the denu- 

 dation and unsightly appearance which our orchards and 

 other trees so remarkably presented this year ; for the 

 destruction of the foliage was accomplished in part by 

 some malignant influences, not well understood. Like 

 the Egyptian king, we are accustomed to attribute all 

 our evils of this nature to the "blasting of the east 

 wind ; " yet we find all aspects and places obnoxious to 



