156 • BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



or a pint of the eggs. They are laid in clusters, and a thin- 

 bladed knife, removing also a chip of the bark or wood to which 

 they are glued, will be found the most convenient instrument 

 for the purpose of separation. It should be distinctly impressed 

 on the minds of the children that the eggs must be sought for 

 on all woody shrubs and trees, as well as on all perpendicular 

 objects, such as fences and buildings, and that if any are dropped 

 or spilled on the ground in the process of removal, they should 

 be collected with the others in pails, boxes or tight bags, and 

 burned. A single season's trial faithfully carried out will con- 

 vince any one of the efficacy of this somewhat tedious, but 

 simple remedy. As the canker worm, fortunately, spreads but 

 slowly through the country, many of those present have not had 

 actual experience of their ravages or even seen the insect itself. 

 The male moth has light gray silky wings expanding about one 

 inch and a quarter, the front pair darkest, and banded with 

 blackish and white zigzag lines. The female, as has been 

 stated, is wingless, with very slender feet and antennse, of a 

 li^it gray color beneath, and darker above, about a third of an 

 inch or more in length. The larvae, or worms as they are vul- 

 garly called, vary much in color. The young are of a dusky 

 hue above, striped with yellow on each side, and whitish 

 beneath. When fully grown, according to Harris, some arcjt 

 " ash colored on the back, and black on the sides, below which 

 is the pale yellowish line. Others of a dull, gi-eenish yellow, 

 and others of a clay color, with slender, interrupted blackish 

 lines on the sides and small spots of the same color on the back. 

 Some are green, with two white stripes down the back. The 

 head and feet partake of the general color of the body. They 

 are about an inch in length, and move by drawing the hinder 

 part of the body toward the head, thus forming a loop. The 

 insects which have this habit are called Geometers, measurers, 

 or span-worms, and are a numerous group of great destructive 

 powers. The cheapest, and perhaps most convenient applications 

 to prevent the moths from ascending the trees, are strips of 

 paper or cloth covered with tar, or what is better, melted Indian 

 rubber, daubed on with a brush, and tied about the trunk three 

 or four feet from the gi'ound. These applications must be kept 

 soft and sticky, for if a pellicle or skin forms on the surface, 

 they will prove no obstacle. Several contrivances have been 



