308 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PEPCRIPTION OF A imrsfl FOR PF.STROYING 



CVTERl'ILLARS' NESTS. 

 To the CorresponJiii? f-ecrelary of the Massachusetts 

 Agrricultural SocUty. 

 Dear Sir— For the last three or fovir years, 

 we have here had very few caterpillars. Last 

 week 1 observed an increased number, though 

 not many, on my young apple tree?. How to 

 destroy them most easily, was a question which 

 occurred as often as I have seen orchards in- 

 fested with them : while I always considered it 

 disgraceful to a tarmer to sufler his trees to be 

 stripped of their leaves, and their fruit, for that 

 season at least, to be destroyed; seeing it was 

 very practicable to get rid of them, and with- 

 out much trouble, by crushing ihein, when 

 small, with the fingers. This was my father's 

 mode, when I was a boy. The same loug, 

 light ladders, which served in autumn in gath- 

 ering his winter fruit by liand, enabled one to 

 come at most of the caterpillars' nests in the 

 spring. On tliis effectual example 1 have my- 

 self practised, singe I became a farmer. Some 

 over delicate persons might object to this mode : 

 but it is really far less oflensive than the bare 1 

 sight of large and numerous nests with which] 

 apple trees are sometimes filled. And if the 

 operation be performed early, when the cater- 

 pillars are only from a quarter to a half an inch 

 long, the operator (man or boy) will feel no 

 repugnance to the process. But in full grown 

 trees, some nests towards the extremities of 

 their small limbs would escape, because not ac- 

 cessible by ladders. A narrow brush, formed 

 with small bunches of bristles in a single row, 

 I once thought might reach and destroy them ; 

 but it was not found eiTectual nor convenient. 

 Last Saturday morning the idea of the proper 

 kind of brush occurred to me, and in the fore- 

 noon 1 tried it with complete success. 



I presume every farmer has observed, that 

 the clusters of eggs producing caterpillars, are 

 laid round the slender twigs of the apple tree 

 and wild cherry, and effectually guarded by a 

 gummy covering, undl vegetation commences 

 in the ensuing spring. When first hatched, the 

 worms appear about the eighth of an inch long. 

 The same warmth in the air which opens the 

 buds, hatches the catterpillars to feed on the 

 embryo leaves. Their first object is to pro- 

 vide for themselves a tent for shelter, in their 

 new state, against the inclemencies of the 

 weather. For this purpose, they crawl to a 

 small fork of a limb, where the branches 

 ibrm a sharp angle ; and there spin and weave 

 a web with which they surround it, and where 

 they are secure against undue cold and heat and 

 rain. Uy this small white web they are dis- 

 covered, and are then most easily destroyed. 

 Hut the clusters of eggs are not all hatched at 

 the same lime. According to their situation for 

 warmth or coolness, they are hatched some 

 days earlier or later. At the distance, there- 

 fore, of a week or ten days after the first visit, 

 an orchard should be again inspected, and all the 

 latter broods destroyed. If neglected in this 

 first state, they soon, by their growth, become 

 straitened for room ; and having also consumed 

 the nearest forage, they march and take a new 

 station, and there ibrm a new and more ample 

 tent. By such neglect the mischief of their 

 ravages is increased, and they are with more 

 difficulty destroyed. 



The efficient and convenient instrument 

 above mentioned, for this work, is nothing more 



than a common bottle brush fastened on the end 

 of a pole. Havir.g an old one in ray house, 

 I was enabled to make the experiment on the 

 day when the idea of so applying it occurred to 

 me. This brush is made of hogs bristles, in- 

 troduced between two stilT wires closely twist- 

 ed : and being convenient in cleaning the in- 

 sides of bottles, is probably familiarly known 

 whenever liciuors are bottled. For the inform- 

 ation of others, 1 will mention, that a piece of 

 wire full one tenth of an inch in diameter, about 

 three feet long, doubled, and leaving a small 

 loop in the middle, is closely twisted for the 

 length of about eight or ten inches from the 

 loop ; and then the bristles, being introduced 

 between the remainder of the branches of the 

 wire, and these closely twisted upon them, the 

 bristles are immovably fixed ; and thus form 

 (after being uniformly sheared) a cylindrical 

 brush about six inches long and two and a half 

 in diameter. To fasten this conveniently to a 

 pole, with a small gouge I made a groove about 

 seven or eight inches long at the small end of 

 the pole, in which nearly all the handle (the 

 naked portion of the twisted wire) of the brush 

 was laid, and bound on with three strings. 



In using the brush, press it on the small nest, 

 and turning the pole in the hand, the web is en- 

 tangled with the bristles, and removed: other- 

 wise, you rub the fork of the limb, inside and 

 outside, with a brush, when nest and worms are 

 surely killed or brought down. That the ex- 

 perimenter may see its mode of operation, he 

 may apply the brush with his hand to a nest 

 within his reach. Spruce poles are eligible, 

 because that wood is light and stiff. For my 

 small trees, 1 found a common bean pole (used 

 for running beans to climb on) six or seven feet 

 long, sutlicient : and for them a longer pole 

 would be inconvenient. For taller trees, poles 

 proportionably long must be provided. 



If you are satisfied, by my account, of the 

 utility of this simple instrument for destroying 

 caterpillars, j'ou m.ay think it proper immedi- 

 ately to make it publicly known. Should the 

 description be more minute than is requisite for 

 communicating a clear idea of it, and its appli- 

 cation, you will abridge it. 



With very great respect and esteem. 



«" 



fove 



1 am, 



dear Sir, truly vours, 

 TIMOTHY PICKERING. 



The following remarks on the subject of Agriculture 

 are from the New York Statesman. They were occa- 

 sioned by an attempt to repeal certain acts by the 

 New York Legislature, making appropriations out of 

 the treasury for the promotion of Agriculture. 



We have never entertained but one view of 

 the expediency of the appropriations heretofore 

 made lor the encouragement of agriculturo ; 

 and that has been decidedly in favor of the lib- 

 eral policy of the government. The agricultu- 

 ral Societies, instituted in the several counties 

 of the state, in consequence of the munificence 

 of former legislatures, have already been of es- 

 sential service to the community, and results 

 still more important may be looked for in a 

 lew years, if these valuable institutions shall 

 continue to receive the patronage and support 

 of the state. We do not hazard much in assert- 

 ing, that greater advances have been made in 

 the cultivation of the lands, in the breed of cat- 

 tle and horses, and in domestic manufactures, 

 since the establishment of the Board of Agri- 



culture and Agricultural Societies, than had be« 

 tor the twenty years previous. '''' 



In many parts of the state, the face of tl '■ , 

 country has assumed an entirely different i ^ 

 pcct. A generous emulation has been excl ""' 

 cd among the farmers. Agricultural scienc ^, 

 improvements in rural implements, the succei ' 

 ful experiments of others in introducing ne ■' 

 modes of tillage, new varieties of vegetabl , 

 and fruits, and generally, the most etfecto ^^ 

 means of increasing the productiveness of tl '•'' 

 earth with the least labor and expense, hai *!' 

 become the common topics of conversation. ' !' 

 spirit of inquiry has gone forth ; antiquated ai 

 laborious modes of cultivation have been e 

 amined and exploded ; prejudices which hadb 

 come inveterate by long usage hare been co 

 reeled ; and a system of rural philosophy ai 

 domestic economy has been introduced. 



Independent of the immediate benefit to a 

 ricullure, arising from the influence of the (in 

 societies, they have had a salutary effect on tl 

 community by increasing the general stock 

 knowledge. A vast body of useful informatio 

 topographical and statistical, has been wide 

 circulated through the state, in books, pai 

 phlets, anniversary addresses, reports, ai 

 newspaper essays. The varieties of soil, tl 

 productions, and resources of the several cou 

 tics of the state are much better understoo 

 Farmers have become more accustomed torea 

 retlect, and reason on subjects relating to tbe|ek> 

 profession ; and the general mass of intelligeni 

 has been greatly augmented. 



The competition excited by annual cxhil 

 tions and awards ol premiums has led to habi 

 of greater activity and industry in both sexi 

 All classes have been stimulated by a laudab 

 ambition to excel in agricultural knowledge ai 

 skill, in rural wealth and rustic honors. Catt 

 Shows and Fairs are regarded, not as mere ho 

 days for relaxation from labors and as seasons 

 festivity, but as the fields of fame, where tl 

 farmer contests the rewards of ingenuity, indo 

 try, and superior merit, and wins for his bro 

 a wreath of victory, not less honorable, and f; 

 more useful to society, than the bay of tl 

 scholar, or the laurel of the soldier. The I 

 brics of the housewife, and the products of tb 

 husbandman are on these occasions exhibited i 

 triumph, and the fatigues of labor in some di, 

 gree compensated by the meed of public di 

 tinction and applause. 



Another benefit derived from the institution ,: 

 of these societies has been the increased popi, 

 larity of agricultural pursuits. The professici;., 

 of the farmer has been rendered more respei 

 table and more fashionable than formerly. Me 

 of talents and of wealth have turned their al 

 tenlion to agriculture, and are now engaged ii, 

 experiments for the promotion and improve' 

 ment of the science. The efforts of thesjt' 

 wealthy and public spirited individuals hav if 

 already been attended with the happiest effects V 

 We hare been surprised that the members tJJ. 

 our legislature, with the experience of othe 

 countries and other states as well as that of ou 

 own before them, should again attempt the abc i 

 lition of societies, from which such obvious an 

 important advantages have been derived. Th' 

 proposition is the more singular at this time 

 when Agricultural Schools have been projected 

 the objects of which are in most respects simi 

 lar to those of the institutions now in existence 



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