NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



401 



Female. Eggs. 



CANKER-WORMS 



Worm. 



Pupa. 



For the New England Farmer. 



Dear Sir : I hardly know what to say in regard 

 to the canker-worm. I am inclined to think the old 

 mode of the application of tar around the body of 

 the tree, on strips of cloth, canvas, or gunny-bags, 

 six inches wide, and fastened around the trunk, is as 

 good a mode to prevent the grub from ascending the 

 tree, as any other that has as yet been found. My 

 mode has been to use tarred cloth ; the tar, when 

 thick, I make thin with oil. I stuff hay, cotton, or 

 sea-weed between the tree and the lower edge of the 

 oloth, to catch the drip of the tar ; this serves like- 

 wise to tire, perplex, and perhaps entangle the giub, 

 before it gets to the tar on the cloth. I think, if the 

 tar is properly and scasonablj- applied in the spring, 

 it will prove effectual. But some, on the contrary, 

 think that tar must be applied in autumn, say the 

 first of Xovcmber. From a close observation of the 

 canker-worm, I am inclined to think but few of the 

 eggs deposited in the autumn are hatched in the 

 spring ; as only a very few males ascend in the fall 

 and winter, most of the eggs prove barren. 



The cloth should be taken from the trees as soon 

 as the grubs are done running, and the tar, should 

 there be any, scraped from the trees. 



I think you will find about all that can be said 

 upon the canker-worm in Dr. Harris's Insects of 

 Massachusetts, page 33G. I will send you KoUar on 

 Insects, a German work, and j'ou can see what he 

 says, page 219, on the winter moth. This insect 

 somewhat resembles the canker-worm ; and here, 

 by the way, you see where you obtained your plate 

 in the first edition of your Fruit-Book, and friend 

 Thomas has the same error in his book. If this con- 

 trivance of what he calls the boot completely an- 

 swers the purpose in arresting the ascent of the win- 

 ter moth, why will it not our canker-worm ? You 

 can print what he says upon the subject, if you like 

 it. It strikes me that it may answer a good purpose, 

 and is cheaj). Yours, S. P. FOWLER. 



Danvers New Mills, Nov. 20, 1850. 



Remarks. — In the former editions of the Amer- 

 ican Fruit-Book, the female of the canker-worm 

 moth is represented with the rudiments of wings. 

 But this is not correct, as appears by the figures at 

 the head of this article, which Ave have had drawn 

 from the insects. In a recent edition of our Fruit- 

 Book, we have corrected the error. 



We would give the mode of protecting trees, as 

 recommended byKollar; but the following contriv- 

 ance is much less expensive, and more effectual : — 

 Take two pieces of board, several inches longer, at 

 each end, than the diameter of the tree, and the 

 width hsdf equal to the length, forming a square, or 

 nearly so, when put together at the edges. Cut in 

 each piece a semicircle corresponding with the size 

 of the tree. Put these together around the tree, 

 forming a collar, several feet from the ground. — 

 Fasten them together by hasps at the top, or by 



cleats nailed to one piece of the board, and by screws 

 through the cleats into the other board after it is 

 properly adjusted. Or small nails may be used, 

 leaving the heads out, so as to draw them when the 

 collar is to be removed. 



Stuff some soft substance between the collar and 

 tree, to prevent the ascent of the grubs, where there 

 may not be a good fit. Apply tar on the under side 

 of this collar. It will be secure from rain, sun, 

 and various falling substances, that tend to render 

 tar ineffectual in a short time, unless often rene%ved. 

 We think that it is a very cheap and efficient mode 

 of tarring, and less liable to injure the tree than other 

 modes usually practised. 



As canker-worms are on the increase in this sec- 

 tion, fruit-growers should turn their attention to the 

 subject, and learn the best mode of destrojing them, 

 or protecting their fruit-trees against their depreda- 

 tions. — Ed. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY DAIRY FARMING. 



It Avould greatly surprise some of the western and 

 southern stock farmers, who boast of their favored 

 climate and rich pastures, to visit this rock- bound 

 county upon the shores of Ontario and the St. Law- 

 rence, to sec how much more money is made by the 

 produce of cows in a climate of six or seven winter 

 months, than in regions where it is very mild, or 

 frost quite unknown. 



In my late flying trip to Watertown, N. Y'., I had 

 the pleasure of a visit to the farm of Mr. Moses 

 Eames, about seven miles from the village, six hun- 

 dred feet elevation above it, and twelve hundred feet 

 above tide water, and north of latitude 41°. The 

 surface is quite hilly and stony, Avith underlying 

 rocks, and would be thought by strangers cold and 

 unproductive. Now, August 21, is the season of 

 harvest of wheat, oats, barley, and grass. Mr. E. 

 keeps forty-three cows, and makes a cheese every 

 day that will weigh, when ready for market, ninety 

 pounds ; worth si.x cent^ a pound at home, or '^o 40, 

 besides a liberal supjjly of milk and butter for a large 

 family. And better butter and cheese I never tasted ; 

 nor did I ever .sit at a better table than in this farm- 

 house — this American farmer's home. Ah, " Home, 

 sweet Home," indeed. 



Mil/an;/ tin: Cowa. — These are driven from the jias- 

 ture long enough before night to enable the laborers 

 to finish by daylight, without haste. From the 

 lower yard, about half are driven into a commodious 

 stable, and fastened in a long line by "stanchions," 

 composed of two upright pieces of wood about five 

 feet long, one of which is fast in a sill, and in a girder 

 at the top, and the other movable, so that the top 

 falls back to give the cow convenience of putting her 

 head and horns between, and is then closed with a 

 catch, almost as fast as a man can walk along. Cows 



