210 Canker - Worms. 



up for the winter ; and again in the spring, from the middle of March to 

 about the loth of April: but, in a mild season, more or less will come out 

 every month through the winter. The females instinctively make their 

 way to the nearest tree^ and crawl slowly up their trunks, and towards the 

 ends of the limbs, where they lay their eggs, in patches of from sixty to a 

 hundred or more, in the forks of the small branches, or near the buds on 

 the young twigs ; after which they shrivel up and die. The eggs are hatched 

 from the first to the middle of May, just as the young leaves of the apple 

 are putting out, on which they gather, and among which they find shelter 

 from cold and wet. Besides the apple and chn, which they seefn to relish 

 best, they are found on the cherry, plum, miple, and lime trees, and on 

 hawthorn-bashes and honeysuckles. At first, they eat little holes in the 

 leaves ; but, as they grow stronger, they devour all the parenchyma, leaving 

 only the midrib and nerves, and giving the trees the appearance of having 

 been scorched by fire. No person who has not seen it can realize the 

 melancholy appearance of an orchard after their ravages. From the slow- 

 ness with which they spread, it sometimes happens that one orchard will be 

 entirely free from them, while in the ne.xt not a leaf is to be seen. When 

 full grown, the worms are about an inch in length, but vary in color ; some 

 being of a reddish or dusky brown, others grayish, and others of a greenish- 

 yellow or green. They eat until about four weeks old, when they descend to 

 the ground, some passing down the trunk of the tree : but the greater part 

 spin threads, by which they lower themselves ; and, while thus suspended 

 from trees overhanging the road, they are liable to be swept off by car- 

 riages, and thus disseminated. They immediately enter the ground from 

 two to six inches in depth, where in twenty-four hours they enter the chrys- 

 alis state, and come forth in their perfect form in autumn or spring as before 

 described. 



It would be very convenient if the canker-worms all had their heads on 

 one neck ; but they have not : and the preventive of their ravages which 

 should be no trouble to apply has been long sought, but never found. The 

 Essex Agricultural Society have for some years offered a premium of a hun- 

 dred dollars for a new, cheap, and effectual remedy for the ravages of the 

 canker-worm ; but no application has yet been made for it. As with the 

 curculio, there is nothing to be done but to persevere with the old methods. 



