TENT-CATERPILLAR 153 



the leaves and hang by a thread. Another good method is to go 

 under the trees and look up through the tops, when the small 

 holes eaten out where the little larvae have been feeding will 

 be readily seen. 



Ordinarily canker worms are not troublesome, frequently they 

 will not be seen for years, but when they do come in force, look 

 out for trouble. It will require sharp, efficient work to keep 

 them in check. 



Methods of Combating. There are two principal ways in 

 which these insects may be combated. The best way, by all 

 odds, because it fits in w r ith the fight against other insects, is 

 to spray with arsenate of lead or some such poison. Usually 

 the spraying for codling moth will attend to the canker worms 

 as well. And yet instances are seen where the most energetic 

 and up-to-date orchard men have been literally swamped by a 

 bad outbreak of this pest. 



Where, for any reason, one expects such an especially severe 

 attack from them, it is well to band the trees with some sticky 

 substance to catch the wingless female insects as they crawl up 

 the trunk. If no crack is left underneath the band through 

 which the female can make her way, and if the bands are kept 

 sticky for a long enough time, the method is decidedly effective. 

 For the fall canker worm October and November, and for the 

 spring species March and April, are likely to be the months 

 during which the females move up the trunk. 



In this connection it is worth calling attention to the fact 

 that the stirring of the soil in cultivated orchards makes it 

 difficult for canker worms to pupate with any degree of com- 

 fort and security. 



Tent-caterpillar. This is a leaf-eating caterpillar of the 

 " first magnitude." A few nests of them in an apple tree will 

 strip it of leaves about as completely as the cold of winter can 

 do it. 



The eggs are laid in the summer in curious bands which 

 may be discovered about the twigs during the winter when the 

 leaves are out of the way. These eggs hatch with the first warm 

 days of spring and the little bits of black, hairy caterpillars may 



