378 



N E W ENGLAND FARMER 



jrCRB 1, 1843. 



to languish, and soon die. The eggs are usually 

 hatched between the first and the middle of May, 

 or about the time that the red currant is in blos- 

 som, and the young leaves of the apple tree begin 

 to start from the bud and grow. The little canker- 

 worms, upon making their escape from the eggs, 

 gather upon the tnnder leaves, and, on thii occur- 

 rence of cold and wet weather, creep for shelter 

 into the liosom of the bud, or into the flowers, when 

 the latter appear. As this treatise may fall into 

 the hands of persons who are not acqnamted with 

 the habits and devastations of our canki'r-wornis, 

 it should be stated that, where these insects prevail, 

 they are most abundant on apple and elm trees ; 

 but that cherry, phini, and lime trees, and some 

 other cultivated and native trees, as well as many 

 shrubs, often sutler severely from their voracity. 

 The leaves first attacked will be found pierced with 

 small holes ; these become larger and more irregu- 

 lar wlien the canker worms increase in size ; and, 

 at last, tlie latter eat nearly all the pulpy parts of 

 the leaves, Jeaving little more than the midrib and 

 veins. A very great difference of cohjr is observa- 

 ble among canker-worms of different ages, and 

 even among those of the same age and size. It is 

 possible that some of these variations may arise 

 from a difference of species ; but it is also true 

 that the same species varies much in color. When 

 very young, they have two minute warts on the top 

 of the last ring ; and they are thd^i generally of n 

 blackish or dusky brown color, with a yellowish 

 stripe on each side of the body ; there are two 

 whitish bands across the head ; and the belly is 

 also whitish. When fully grown, these individu- 

 als become ash-colored on the back, and black on 

 the sides, below whicli the pale yellowish lino re- 

 mains. Some ari! found of a dull, greenish yellow, 

 and others of a clay color, with slender interrupted 

 blackish lines on the sides, and small spots of the 

 satne color on the back. Some arc green, with 

 two white stripes on the back. The head and the 

 feet partake of the general color of the body ; the 

 belly is paler. When not eating, they remain 

 stretched out at full length, and resting on their 

 fore and hind legs, beneath the leaves. When 

 fully grown and well fed, they measure nearly or 

 (]uile one inch in longih. They leave off eating 

 when about four weeks old,* and begin to quit the 

 trees ; some creep down by the trunk, but great 

 numbers let themselves down by their threads from 

 the branches, their instincts prompting them to get 

 to the ground by the mint directand easiest course. 

 When thus descending, and suspended in great 

 numbers under the linilis of trees overhanging the 

 road, they are often swept off by passing carriages, 

 and are thus conveyed to other places. After 

 reaching the ground, ihey immediately burrow in 

 the earth, to the depth of from two to six inches, 

 unless prevented by weakness or the nature of the 

 soil. In the latter case, they die, or undergo their 

 transformations on the surface. In the former, 

 they make little cavities or cells in the ground, by 

 turning round repeatedly and fastening the loose 

 grains of earth about them with a few silken threads. 

 Within twentyfour hours afterwards, they are chang- 

 ed to chrysalida in their cells. The chrysalis is of 

 a light brown color, and varies in size according to 

 the sex of the insect contained in it ; that of the 

 female being the largest, and being dcsliluto of a 



•In the year 1841, ihe red currant fliiwered, and the 

 canker-wiiriiis uppearril, on llio ISlh of May. The in- 

 «ecl» wur« very abundant on the l.')tli of Jhou, and on 

 'he 17th ■carciily nrie waa to be seen. 



covering for wings, which is found in the chrysalis 

 of the males. The occurrence of mild weather 

 after a severe frost stimulates some of these insects 

 I to burst their chrysalis skins and come forth in the 

 perfected slate; and this Inst transformation, as 

 before stated, may take place in the autumn, or in 

 the course of the winter, as well as in the spring ; 

 I it is also retarded, in some individuals, for a year 

 I or more beyond the usual time. They come out of 

 I the ground mostly in the night, when they may be 

 I seeti struggling through the grass as far as the 

 I limbs extend from the body of the trees under 

 j which they had been buried. As the females are 

 1 destitute of wings, they are not able to wander far 

 from the trees upon which they had lived in the 

 caterpillar state. Canker-worms are therefore 

 naturally confined to a very limited space, from 

 which they spread year after year. Accident, 

 however, will often carry them far from their native 

 haunts, and in this way probably, they have extend- 

 ed to places remote from each other. Where they 

 have become established, and have been neglected, 

 their ravages are often very great. In tli« early, 

 part of the season, the canker-worms do not attract 

 much attention ; but it is in June, when they be- 

 come extremely voracious, that the mischief they 

 have done is rendered apparent, when we have be- 

 fore us the melancholy sight of the foliage of our 

 fruit trees and of our noble elms reduced to wither- 

 ed and lifeless shreds, and whole orchards looking 

 as if they had been suddenly scorched with fire. 



In order to protect our trens from the rax ages of 

 canker-worms, where these looping spoilers abound, 

 it should bo our aim, if possible, to prevent the 

 wingless females from ascending the trees to de- 

 posit their eggs. This can be done by the appli- 

 cation of tar around the body of the tree, either di- 

 rectly on the bark, as has been the most common 

 practice, or, what is better, over a broad bell of 

 clay inortar, or on strips of old canvass or of strong 

 paper, from six to twelve inches wide, fastened 

 around the tru.nk with strings. The tar must be 

 applied as early as the first of November, and per- 

 haps in October, and it should be renewed daily as 

 long as the insects continue rising ; after which 

 the hands inny be removed, and the tar should be 

 entirely scraped from the bark. When all this 

 has been properly and seasonably done, it has 

 proved effectual. The time, labor, and expense 

 attending the use of tar, and the injury, that it 

 docs to the trees when allowed to run and remain 

 on the bark, have caused many persons to neglect 

 this method, and some to try various modifications 

 of it, and other expedients. Among the modifica- 

 tions may be mentioned a horizontal and close-fit- 

 ting collar of boards, lastenod around the trunk, 

 and smeared beneath with tar; or four boards,! 

 nailed together like a box, without top or bottom, 

 around the base of the tree, to receive the tar on ' 

 the outside. These can be used to protect a few ' 

 choice trees in a garden, or around a house or a | 

 public square, but will be found too expensive to 

 be applied to any great extent. Collars of tin 

 plate, fastened around the trees, and sloping down- 

 wards like an inverted tunnel, have been proposed, 

 upon the suppositiim that the moths would not bo 

 able to creep in an inverted position, bcnaatit the 

 smooth and sloping surface. This method will 

 also prove too expensive for general adoption, even 

 should It be found to answer the purpose. A bell 

 of cotton-wool, which it has been thought would 

 entangle the feet of the insects, and thus keep 

 them from ascending the trees, hns not proved an 



effectual bar to them. Little square or circuit, 

 troughs of tin or of lead, filled with cheap fish 

 and placed around the trees, three feet or n 

 above the surfuce of the ground, with a stuffing 

 cloth, hay, or sea-weed betxveen them and ibi 

 trunk, have long been used by various persons U 

 Massachusetts with good success ; and the onll 

 objections to them ore the cost of the troughs, th, 

 didiculty of fixing and keeping them in their plr 

 ces, and the injury suffered by the trees when th 

 oil IS washed or blown out and falls upon the bar! 

 Mr Jonathan Dennis, Jr., of Portsmouth, Rhod 

 Island, has obtained a patent for a circular Iiade 

 trough to contain oil, offering some advaniagt 

 over those that have heretofore been used, alihougl 

 it docs not entirely prevent the escape of the oi 

 and the nails, with which it is secured, aro fbun 

 to be injurious to the trees. These troughs ougli 

 not to be nailed to the trees, but should be sup 

 ported by a few wooden wedges driven belwea 

 theni and the trunks. A stufiing of cloth, cottd 

 or tow, should never be used ; sea-weed and fia 

 hay, which will not absorb the oil, are much better 

 Before the troughs are fastened and filled, (ho bod; 

 of the tree should be well coated with clay psin 

 or white wash, to absorb the oil that may fall upoi 

 it. Care should be taken to renew the oil as ofte 

 as it escapes or beconics filled will) the inseclji 

 These troughs will be found more economical ail 

 less troublesome than the application of lar, an 

 may safely be recommended and employed, if pro 

 per attention is given to the precautions obovi 

 named. Some persons fasten similar troughs, t( 

 contain oil, around the outer sides of an open bo* 

 enclosing the base of Ihe tree, and a prujicting 

 ledge is nailed on the edge of the box to sliuil ilif 

 rain; by this contrivance, all danger of hurting th« 

 tree with the oil is entirely avoided. In the ' -Man- 

 chester Guardian,' an English newspaper, nf the 

 4th of November, 1S40, is the following article on 

 the use of melted Indian rubber to prevent iusectJ 

 from climbing up trees: — 



" At a late meeting of the Entomological Soci- 

 ety, [of London ?] Mr J. II. Eennell commiiiii. iieJ 

 the following successful mode of prevenlin.; in- 

 sects ascending the trunks of fruit trees. Loll 

 piece of Inilian rubber be burnt over a gnl ipot, 

 into which it will gradually drop in the coiuliion 

 of a viscid juice, which state, it appears, it wi.l al- 

 ways retain ; for Mr Fennell has, at the present 

 time, some which has been melted for upnm.ls of 

 a year, and has been exposed to all weathers with- 

 out undergoing the slightest change. Having 

 melted the Indian rubber, let apiece of cord or 

 worsted be sfneared with it, and then tied sevcnl 

 times round the trunk. Tho melted euhstaiicc is 

 so very sticky, that the insects will be prc\outed, 

 and gensrally captured, in their attempts to piss 

 over it. About three pennyworth of Indian rubber 

 is sufficient for the protection of twenty ordnurj 

 sized fruit trees." 



Applied in this way, it would not be sufficient 

 to keep the canker-worm moths from getting up 

 the trees ; for the first comers would soon bridge 

 over the cord with their bodies, and thus afford t 

 passage to their followers. To insure success, it 

 should be melted in larger quantities, and daubed 

 with a brush upon strips of cloth or paper, fastened 

 round tho trinks of the trees. Worn out Indian 

 rubber shoes, which are worth little or nothing for 

 any other purpose, can be put to this use. 'I'hl* 

 plan has been triod by a few persona in tlic vicini- 

 ty of lloston, some of whom speik favorably of it 



