130 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO APPLES. 



a flexible twig. To prevent the insect from emeiging and 

 laying its eggs, it is d( ubly imporiant that this be done 

 early in the spring ; but the trees should be repeatedly 

 examined at other periods of the year. 



To prevent the entrance of the borer, remove the soil a 

 little about the roots, and then wash the whole trunk and 

 larger forks of the branches, with a mixture of tobacco 

 water, soft soap, and flour of sulphur. The proportions are, 

 a pint of the sulphur, a gallon of soft soap, and enough 

 tobacco water to reduce the whole to the consistence of 

 paint. This should be done in spring, before the insect 

 lays its eggs. It is stated by A. J. Downing, that this mix- 

 ture is so offensive to the insect in its winged slate, that no 

 tree was touched which had been coated with it ; — although 

 ihe coating had been on for several weeks. He also recom- 

 mends injecting, by a syringe, this liquid into the holes; 

 and plugging up the holes in spring with pieces of soft pine 

 dipped in tobacco water, to prevent the escape of the perfect 

 insect. 



Not only the apple tree, but the quince, mountain ash, 

 and hawthorn, suffer greatly from the attacks of this insect. 

 The Ca7iker worm. (Anisopteryx 'pometaria.) This 

 caterpillar appears to have been as 

 yet chiefl}' confined in its destructive 

 ravages, to portions of New-England. 

 The accompanying figures represent 

 the perfect insect, the male with 

 wings, the female nearly destitute. 

 (Fig. 105.) The canker worm at- 

 tacks both fruit and leaves ; when 

 numerous, the small webs they make, 

 added to the destruction of the 

 foliage, give the tree the appearance 

 of having been scorched. The re- 

 medies consist in various contrivances to prevent the female 

 insects ascending the tree, but none have been yet dis- 

 covered of easy, safe, and efl^ectual application. One of the 

 best is to encircle the trunk with a canvass belt, coated* 

 with a mixture of tar and train oil. The mixture needs 

 repeatedly renewing. Applying the tar directly to the bark 

 endangers the life of the tree. 



