Vtil.. .win. NO. 50. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER.* 



415 



Kor Ihe New England Karmcr. 



C.\NKER WORM. 

 Mr Editor — he increasing' ravages of tliis 

 pest of our (ircliai'ds.'llie present year, ami its rapid 



pproach t;> many nt us vvlio have not yet been over- 

 run by it, have e.xcited a pood deal of solicitude 



mong ciiliivators that an effort should be made 

 to arrest its projfress ; and I was glad to see iu the 

 valuable communication of .F. \V., copied into your 

 paper the past week, frojn the Boston Courier, the 

 desire of the writer, '• that a course of e.\porim'»nts 

 through the ivhole progress and transnriutations of 

 this destroyer dnrinj; the year" should be made. — 

 To aid this desirable object, F have thought it 

 might be useful to those engaged in this pursuit, 

 to be made acquainted with the latest method 

 adopted in Europe for the same purpose, and which 

 I presume is not generally l(nown here. 



In a late work on " Insects Injurious to Garden- 

 ers and Fitrmers" by f'incint Kullor, Curator to the 

 Royal Cabinet of Natural History at Vienna, and 

 translated during the present year, by the Misses 

 Loudon of England, I find an account of tlie 

 h'inttr Moth and its ravages, which I presume 

 from the description as well as from the plates ac- 

 companying the work, there can be no doubt, 

 is identical with the canker worm moth of tins 

 country. 



After trenting of the habits and ravages of this 

 insect, and the natural causes of its diminution, 

 which are often .-o elfectual that fruit trees remain 

 uninjured by it for several years, the author 

 says : 



"The means of diminishing this insect, existing 

 in nature, are, however, not equally effective every 

 year ; so thiit sometimes the numbers of the ( ater- 

 pillar increase to such a degree that the produce 

 and vigor <if our fruit trees would be alike destroy- 

 ed if we did not take measures against them. We 

 can, at least, prevent the females of the winter 

 moth from reaching the top of the tree and laying 

 their eggs there. We know that they have no 

 wings, and consequently can only crawl up the 

 trees ; therefore, if we can place any contrivance 

 round the trunk of a tree, over which they cannot 

 pass, that tree is secure from them. No eggs can 

 be laid there, and consequently no caterpillars will 

 be found there in spring. Everything has been 

 tried to keep off the female winter-moths from the 

 fruit trees : the stems have been surrounded with 

 tow, cotton, fir-twigs, ears of corn, and substances 

 having a disagreeble smell ; but they have passed 

 all these barriers and reached the tops. They have 

 been even known to pass worsted threads prepared 

 with mercurial ointment and wound round the 

 trees, as many amateurs of gardens have e.'cpori- 

 enced. The stem of the fruit tree has also been 

 surrounded with strong paper, fastened with pack- 

 thread, and smeared with tar, or cartgrease. Thin 

 was so f.ir eii'ectual that the moth stuck in the tar. 

 But as this substance either loses its stickiness by 

 the rain or dries quickly up, the smearing must be 

 repeated daily to render it effectual ; and this 

 would be both tedious and e.xpensive. If the tar 

 be too thickly laid on, it flows from the j)a|)er on 

 to the stem and injures the bark. Therefore those 

 persons give us very bad advice who say that the 

 stem itself of the tree ought to be smeared with 

 tar, to prevent insects from reaching the top. The 

 tar even penetrates through the bark into the wood, 

 and destroys the sap vessels, by which young trees 



are greatly injured. At last a plan was thought 

 of, of surrounding the base of the stem with a 

 wooden frame, or box, and daubing it on the out- 

 side with tar to avoid the had effects mentioned 

 above. This contrivance comjiletely answers the 

 end in view, as has been fully proved. The frame 

 consists of four boards about a foot liigh, and rather 

 longer than the diameler of the tree they are to 

 surround. These four beards are to be nailed 

 together in the form of a square 0[ien box ; but the 

 fo:irth board is not to be fastened on till the frame 

 is placed round the tree, as the stem must be en- 

 tirely enclosed by the boards. To prevent the sun 

 or rain from having any effect on the tar or cart- 

 grease, the top of the frame is to be surrounded 

 with a moulding; that is, a thin piece of wood 

 three or four inches broad is to be nailed on the 

 top, so as to form a .projection on the outside, 

 and under this an angle. This angle, formed 

 on the outside only, is to be thickly .smeared 

 with tar. Tliis frame may thus be called a boot, 

 as the stem of the fruit tree stands as if in a boot. 

 It must be set an inch deep iu the earth, which 

 must be well trodden in round it, so that the moths 

 may not get under it and reach the tree, I must 

 here observe that the boot ought not to be made 

 too large ; but should be so fixed as to allow of 

 but little space between it and the stem 5 that we 

 may be the more certain that no piipe of the win- 

 ter moth lie within the boot. I!ut this is not much 

 to be apprehended ; for I have known of only two 

 instances of the winter moth coming out of the 

 earth within the boot, and consequently very near 

 the trunk. 



"At the end of October it is time to bring this 

 wooden boot into use, to guard the stem ; and, 

 consequently, the tops of the fruit trees from the 

 female moth. It must be smeared, as we have be- 

 ferc said, in the angle under the coping with tar. 

 If it is new, it must be smeared two or three days 

 in succe.-ision, as at first the tar penetrates greatly 

 into the wood, and soon dries. Afterwards, smear- 

 ing is only necessary two or three times during 

 autumn ; and if the ground becomes frozen or cov- 

 ered with snow, it may be left off entirely. In spring, 

 when the earth is thawed, the boot must again 

 be daubed with tar, as some of the moths still 

 come out of the earth, and once more in the be- 

 ginning of May, in order that neither looper nor 

 other catet pillars may come from other quartcr.s, 

 and reach the top of the tree ; for the larvfe are as 

 incapable of passing the tar as the wingless moths. 

 "A boot of this sort is not very expensive, as it 

 is not necessary to have the boards planed, and if 

 not removed from the tree, it lasts several years ; 

 so that the expense for one tree amounts at most 

 to about a penny a year. If the tar is reckoned at 

 another penny, the whole preservative throughout 

 the year costs only two pence for each tree. This 

 trifling expense should not be grudged when we 

 consider the damage which the green caterpillar 

 does to fruit trees. Besides, by this contrivance 

 ihe orchard is protected for several years from 

 these destructive caterpillars; for if they are once 

 nearly extirpated, it is a long lime before ihey 

 again increase so much as to be very injurious." 



The apparent advantages of the hoot are, 



1. That Ihe tar may be used without coining in 

 contact with the tree. 



2. The projecting moulding roniid the box ob 

 structs the influence ot the sun and the rain upon 

 the tar, and consequently, it is kept much longer 



in ail emollienl stale, tio that its application three 

 times in the autumn, and twiie in the spring is 

 said to be suflicient. 



3. The economy of the ri me ly, costing in Ger- 

 many hut two prni-e (four cents) per tree. In this 

 country it would dcuibtlcss co;-t something more. 



4. It is within the means of every one to apply 

 it, it being only necessary to be provided with a 

 small quantity of cheap lumber, and should the 

 leisure time to be found in the winter season be 

 employed to construct the boxes, they would cost 

 but little. 



In this country, the applicctiim, to be entirely 

 effectual, should be made by the first of October, 

 as the insects sometimes ascend the tiecs during 

 that month, consequently it would be improper to 

 defer it, as directed bv Kiillar, to a later period. 

 ELIJAH VOSE. 



Dorchester, June 15, 1840. 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



Rich Bread Pudding. — Cut a pound loaf of good 

 bread into thin slices. Spread them with butter as 

 for eating. Lay iheni in a pudding dish — sprinkle 

 between each layer of bread, seeded raisins, and 

 citron cut in small pieces or strips. Beat eight 

 eggs with four tablespooiifuls of rolled sugar, mix 

 them with three pints of milk and half of a grated 

 nutmeg, 'i urn the whole on the bread in the panij 

 and let it remain till the bread has taken up full 

 half the milk; then bake about three quarters of 

 an hour. 



In making boiled puddings it is essential that 

 there should be water enough to keep the pudding 

 covered, and that it should not be allowed to stop 

 boiling from the coiniiieitcemeiit to the i lose. 

 Water may bo kept boiling in a tea keitle to pour 

 in, as that iQ the pot boils away. An old plate at 

 the bottom of the pot will .prevent the pudding from 

 sticking, and when it is done, if the bag is dipped 

 in cold water, it will come out of the bag easier. 



Rich Baked Indian Pvdding: — Boil a quart of 

 milkjBud add a pint of fine Indian meal. Stir it 

 well. Mix three tablespooiifuls of wheat (lour with 

 a pint of milk, sons to have it free from lumps. 

 Mix this -with the likdian meal, and stir the whole 

 well together. When the whole is moderately 

 warm, stir in three eggs well beat, with three 

 spoonfuls of sugar. Add two teaspoonfuls of salt, 

 two of ground cinnamon or grated nutmegs, ani 

 t"0 tablespoonfuls cf melted butter. When the 

 pudding has baked five or six minutes, slir in a 

 halt a pound of raisins ; and add half a pint of milk 

 for them, as they will render it too dry. 



Indian Boiled Pudding. — Make a stiff batter by 

 stirring Indian meal into a quart of boiling milk or 

 water. Then stir in two tablespoonfuls of flour, 

 three of sugar, half a spoonful of ginger, or two 

 teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, and two teaspoonfuls of 

 salt. If any thing extra is required, add two of 

 three eggs well beaten, hut Ihey can be dispensed 

 with, and some add a little chopped suet. Such 

 puddings require a long boiling. They will be 

 good in three or four hours, but better for being 

 boiled five or six, and some give a boiling of eiglil 

 or nine. They require good sauce at eating. 



It is a fact universally noticed, that the apple 

 trees all over the country, were never known to be 

 in such full bloom. Every limb is loaded with the 

 fragrant pioneer of an abundant crop. — Providinct 

 Juurnnl. 



