ANIMALS INJURIOUS TO FRUIT TREES. 480 



oil soap is the only remedy aside from hand-picking, which 

 is most effectual. One gallon of whale-oil soap to three 

 gallons of water syringed over them, when on the tree, 

 effectually desti-oys them. In some cases fruit trees have 

 been protected by covering them with millinet. 



Let if- Rollers. — In May and June these insects may be 

 'found on the leaves of fruit trees, and especially on the 

 pear; they form for themselves a sort of cocoon out of tlie 

 leaf The leaves attacked by them should be removed and 

 destroyed, in order to prevent their increase. The leaf- 

 rollers are small caterpillars, which develop into little 

 moths or ^'millers." 



Section 3. — Animals Injurious to Fruits and 

 Fruit Trees. 



Sirds. — As a general thing, birds ai"e more the friends 

 than the enemies of the garden. Many of them subsist 

 in greater part on insects, and thus perform services 

 that are by no means appreciated. The early cherries 

 and grapes are generally the greatest sufferers by them, 

 and various devices are practised to frighten them away, 

 the most cruel of which is shooting, whicli must, however, 

 in some cases be resoited to. Moving objects resembling 

 the human figure, bits of looking-glass or tin suspended 

 among the branches, etc., are often effectual. Dwarf 

 trees are easily covered with thin netting supported on 

 poles and fastened at the base of the tree. 



Field Mice. — The most effectual preventive is clean 

 culture. Leave no grass, weeds, rubbish, or lieaps of 

 stones around the garden or orchard, and the mice will 

 seldom be troublesome. Their operations of girdling 

 are principally carried on beneath the snow, and when 

 this is firmly trodden down as soon as it falls, it ob- 

 structs their way. A correspondent of the "Horticul- 

 turist" states that he has found tin tubes fixed around 

 the base of the tree, an effectual remedy ; and Mi» 



