THE FOREST TENT CATERPILLAR. 



Sir, — Oar last year's visitors, the caterpil- 

 lars, are on the rampage again, more plenty 

 than even last year. I am in hopes that this 

 may be their last year with us. They have 

 nearly cleaned the Poplar of the fresh young 

 leaves already. So far I have kept my orchard 

 clean by persistent spraying every few days ; 

 but when they get big and begin to travel 

 round, will keep them back by band of tarred 

 cotton round the tree trunk. Paris green is 

 after they get big, — at least I have not found 

 it of any use. I have observed that the bud 

 worm is here this spring ; this is the first time 

 it has made its appearance to be noticed. We 

 are a little behind you good people in old On- 

 tario, but are getting educated whether we 

 will or no, and this kind of compulsory edu- 

 cation we'll have to get, and I hope may pro- 

 fit by what you older people have already 

 learned. 



Chas. Yocng, 

 Richard's Landing, Algoma. 



Mr. W. M. Munson, of the Maine 

 Experiment Station, writes : 



The Forest tent caterpillar is defoliating 

 many orchards in Maine the present season. 

 The eggs are laid upon the twigs in the same 

 way as those of the common tent caterpillar, 

 but the insects, instead of spinning a web for 

 a resting place, gather in great masses upon 

 the sides of the trees at moulting time, and 

 they often migrate for considerable distances. 

 In many cases during the past year, they 

 swept over entire orchards in spite of every- 

 thing that could be done. Spraying in the 

 manner already indicated, if begun when the 

 insect first appears, will usually prove effec- 

 tive, but if delayed till the caterpillars are 

 half grown, it is of no avail. Many large 

 orchardists have been approximately success- 

 ful in holding the pests in check when they 

 appeared in force, by putting on rubber gloves 

 and crushing as many as possible of the in- 

 sects. Many of those not killed would spin 

 a web, and drop to the ground when dis- 

 turbed, and a band of paper, smeared with 

 equal parts of lard and sulphur, tacked about 

 the trunk, prevents their return to the tree. 

 The Forest caterpillar is at present doing 

 much injury to the shade trees in the cities 

 and towns of Maine, as well as to the or- 

 chards. 



We have received numerous letters 

 from subscribers living in northern parts 

 of Ontario complaining of the ravages 

 of caterpillars, saying they were so 

 abundant as to become a great plague, 

 sometimes collecting so thickly on the 

 track as to be the means of stopping the 

 trains ; and in the orchards they were so 



numerous as to threaten their wholesale 

 destruction. Some complain that even 

 Paris green is ineffective. It is quite 

 evident that reference is made to the 

 Forest and not the Apple tree Tent Cat- 

 erpillar. The latter is comparatively 

 easy of control by spraying, but the for- 

 mer increases so enormously at times in 

 the forests that immense swarms often 

 travel across roads or along fences in 

 search of food, and woe to the garden 

 or orchard which comes in their way. 

 The foliage may be well poisoned with 

 Paris green, but what if the first thou- 

 sand or two perish, the endless hosts 

 following will soon take their places, and 

 continue their ravages until July, when 

 they usually go into cocoons and wait 

 for another season's attack. When we 

 were on St. Joseph's Island last July we 

 noticed the evergreen trees white with 

 loads of the whitish yellow cocoons like 

 crops of some peculiar fruit ; even the 

 fences were dotted with them and every 

 other convenient lodging place. 



We are not surprised to hear they 

 have now appeared in enormous num- 

 bers, and that all usual remedies fail 

 against such an army. Mr. Young's 

 band of tarred cotton around the trunks 

 of the trees is a fine plan, because one 

 can easily control those worms hatching 

 out from eggs deposited on the apple 

 trees, provided fresh worms from the 

 forest do not crawl up the trees to take 

 their places. Dr. Saunders says on this 

 subject : " During the day they are so 

 constantly on the move, that a young 

 tree thoroughly cleansed from them in 

 the morning may be crowded again be- 

 fore evening. To avoid the necessity 

 of constant watchfulness, strips of cot- 

 ton batting, three or four inches wide, 

 should be tied around the tree about 

 half way up the trunk. These bands 



'65 



