35 



whale-oil soap or n;as tar, partially dried, 12 or 15 inches wide, from the roots 

 up, and loosely tied top and bottom with bass mattin^;. This will require 

 about twenty minutes to a tree, and will last one season." 



The codling moth is also well known, its larva boring 

 ■unsightly holes through the apple in different directions, caus- 

 ing the fruit to drop to the ground, and rendering it unmar- 

 ketable. There is no method of preventing the deposit of the 

 eggs by the parent moths, but there are means by which their 

 numbers may be greatly diminished. Fires built around the 

 orchard in the evenings of the latter part of June and early in 

 July will attract and destroy the moths in numbers ; and all 

 the windfall fruit or other apples lying on the ground should be 

 gathered at once and fed to the hogs. This practice, if followed 

 up, will very greatly tend to keep these insects in subjection. 



Among the insects attacking young vegetation, a very gener- 

 ally known species is the striped cucumber-beetle, (often called 

 the striped bug.) Various remedies have been tried against 

 their devastations, but I believe nothing, except a protection 

 for the young vines or other plants attacked, by a gauze or 

 millinet screen, has proved effectual, although a solution of one 

 pound of whale-oil soap to four gallons of water, scattered 

 plentifully over the plants from time to time, has been quite 

 successful. Particular care should be taken to apply this after 

 a rain storm, ^nd it is essential that the under surfaces of the 

 leaves be well moistened with it. Lime, plaster of paris, wood 

 ashes, pepper, <fec., have been recommended, but the above 

 seem to be the only ones that can be at all relied on. 



Cut-worms are also a serious pest in many localities. As 

 they live, during their larva form, beneath the surface of the 

 ground during the daytime, their presence is rarely detected 

 until a large number of young and thrifty plants have been 

 severed by their sharp jaws. There are several remedies rec- 

 ommended against them. It is said that a handful of oil-meal 

 in a hill of corn will keep the worms employed until the plants 

 are grown too tough for the insect's attacks. I cannot recom- 

 mend it from personal knowledge, but should say it is worth 

 the trial, as it can do no harm if it does no good, the meal 

 being valuable as a fertilizer. Flour of sulphur scattered on 

 each hill is also well spoken of, as is an occasional application 

 of whale-oil soapsuds, lime, and wood ashes. 



The aim of the farmer should be to destroy the worms, rather 

 than prevent their ravages; for this we have proved the follow- 

 ing the most reliable plan : Wet the earth on each hill, and 

 thrust down into it, to the depth of two or three inches, a smooth 

 round stick, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and turn it 

 around several times until the hole made in the ground is on 

 all its sides perfectly smooth ; repeat this several times, so that 



