206 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JuflE 



DESTROY THE CATERPILIiABS. 

 "E. G. F.," of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is an- 

 nounced in the Ploivmun to have discovered an in- 

 fallible substance for the destruction of caterpil- 

 lars. He says : "I can destroy every vestige of 

 caterpillars from a hundred trees for $1 50." Yes- 

 terday morning, between the hours of five and six 

 o'clock, pole and brush in hand, we visited some 

 two hundred trees, and destroyed the nest of every 

 caterpillar we could find. The wear of the brush 

 could not have been more than two cents, and the 

 hour occupied was abundantly paid for in visiting 

 and observing the beautiful trees, in breathing the 

 exhilarating air, and in listening to the songs of a 

 variety of birds which were vocal with their morn- 

 ing praise. When "E. G. F." comes to make the 

 destruction of caterpillars a practical matter, he 

 will find it necessary to pass over the trees more 

 than once during the season — perhaps over some 

 of them half-a-dozen times — for they are continu- 

 ally being hatched out during ten or fifteen days, 

 and some species as late as July and August. 

 The expense incurred in the destruction of cater- 

 pillars is in the time occupied in the work, and 

 where the trees are visited several times annually, 

 four or five hundred trees will not require more 

 than one full day's time, when the odd hours are 

 all included. Believing that many readers do not 

 fully appi'eciate the mischief caused by these in- 

 sects, we quote a part of what Dr. Harris says 

 of them in his "Insects Injurious to Vegetation." 



These insects, because they are the most com- 

 mon and most abundant in all parts of our coun- 

 tiy, and have obtained such notoriety that in com- 

 mon language they are almost exclusiseiy known 

 among us by the name of the eatcrpillars, are the 

 worst enemies of the orchard. Where proper at- 

 tention has not been paid to the destruction of 

 them, they prevail to such an extent as almost en- 

 tirely to strip the apple and cherry trees of their 

 foliage, by their attacks continued during the 

 seven weeks of their life in the caterpillar form, 

 The trees, in those orchards and gardens where 

 they have been suffered to breed for a succession 

 of years, become prematurely old, in consequence 

 of the efibrts they are obliged to make to repair, 

 at an unseasonable time, the loss of their foliage, 

 and are rendered unfruitful, and consequently un- 

 profitable. But this is not all ; these pernicious 

 insects spread in every direction, from the trees of 

 the careless and indolent, to those of their more 

 Careful and industrious neighbors, whose labors 

 are thereby greatly increased, and have to be fol- 

 lowed up year after year, without any prospect of 

 permanent relief. 



Many methods and receipts for the destruction 

 of these insects have been published and recom- 

 mended, but have fiiiled to exterminate them, and 

 indeed have done but little to lessen their num- 

 bers, as, indeed, might be expected from the tenor 

 of the foregoing remarks. In order to be com- 

 pletely successful they must he unioersalln adoj^ted. 

 These means comprehend both the destruction of 

 the eggs and of the caterpillars. The eggs are to 



be sought for in the winter and the early part of 

 spring, when there are no leaves on the trees. 

 They are easily discovered at this time, and may 

 be removed with the thumb nail and fore finger. 

 Nurseries and the lower limbs of large trees may 

 thus be entirely cleared of the clusters of eggs 

 during a few visits made at the ])roper season. It 

 is well known that the caterpillars come out to 

 feed twice during the daytime, namely, in the fore- 

 noon and afternoon, and that they rarely leave 

 their nests before nine in the morning, and return 

 to them again at noon. During the early part of 

 the season, while the nests are small, and the cat- 

 erpillars young and tender, and at those hours 

 when the insects are gathered together within their 

 common habitation, they may be effectually de- 

 stroyed by crushing them by hand in the ne«ts. 

 A brush, somewhat like a bottle-brush, fixed to a 

 long handle, as recommended by the late Colonel 

 Pickering, or, for the want thereof, a dried mullein 

 head and its stalk fastened to a pole, will be use- 

 ful to remove the nests, mth the caterpillairs con- 

 tained therein, from those branches which are too 

 high to be reached by hand. Instead of the 

 brush, we may use, with nearly equal success, a 

 small mop or sponge, dipped as often as necessary 

 into a pailful of refuse soapsuds, strong white- 

 wash, or cheap oil. The mop should be thrust in- 

 to the nest and turned round a little, so as to wet 

 the caterpillars with the liquid, which will kill 

 every one that it touches. Tliese means, to be 

 efi'ectual, should be employed dui'ing the proper 

 hours, that is, early in the morning, at midday, or 

 at night, and as soon in the spring as the caterpil- 

 lars begin to make their nests j and they should 

 be repeated as often, at least, as once a week,, till 

 the insects leave the trees. 



Early attention and perseverance in the use of 

 these remedies will, in time, save the farmer hun- 

 dreds of dollars, and abuzidance of mortification 

 and disappointment, besides rewarding him with 

 the grateful sight of the verdant foliage, snowy 

 blossoms, and rich fruits of his orchard in their 

 pi'oper seasons. 



A JSTEW BUTTER-^WOBKEB. 



Sometime last fall we spoke of having seen the 

 operations of a new machine for separating the 

 buttermilk from butter. Since that time, we have 

 had one of them in operation, and believe it has 

 been fairly tested. Giving it our personal atten- 

 tion — aided by our excellent and skilful wife, in 

 butter-making — we found the results as favorabl® 

 as stated by the inventor, or as could be desired. 

 The process of excluding the buttermilk is simple, 

 quick and effective. Any one can go through it 

 without hesitation. The butter came through dry, 

 brittle, and without being in any way injured, so 

 far as we could observe. 



A letter just received from the inventor, George 

 W. Putnam, of Peterboro', Madison county, N. 

 Y., says E. D. Bacon, Esq., of Peterboro', "keeps 

 a large store, and as is the practice of country 

 merchants take in small lots of butter through the 

 spring and summer, and packs it in firkins for the 

 New York market." He said "he had as hard a 

 looking lot of butter as he ever saw any where," 



