THE CAN'ADfAN* llni;rri'('LTmirST, 



TO KEEP FOREST TENT CATERPILLARS FROM TRPIES, 



. i'.Y WM. SAUNDERS, LONDON. From the Free Press. 



The Forest Tent Caterpillar iclhiocampa sylvatica), whicli was 

 so very destructive to our gardens, orchards, and forests last year, 

 seems likely to be almost as numerous and injurious again this season- 

 The worms are now about an inch or more in length, and during the 

 next ten days or fortnight will eat most voraciously, and their efforts, 

 owing to their increased size, will be painfully apparent. There are 

 'many painstaking cultivators who are attentive to their trees, and 

 destroy from time to time all the catepillars they can find on them, 

 but who are perplexed and discouraged hj the continued invasions 

 they are subject to from the hosts of these hungry larvae which swarm 

 in neglected orchards and among the forests trees. This particular 

 caterpillar is very fond of travelling, and its powers of locomotion are 

 not to be despised, lor in a few hours it can travel a very considerable 

 distance, and, if it does not meet with suitable food, can maintain its 

 activity on an empty stomach for several days. In consequence of 

 this peculiarity, trees that are free from them to-day may be swarming 

 to-moiTow. To meet such cases I would suggest the following simple 

 and inexpensive remedy, which has been tried and found to work 

 admirably : — Take a roll of cotton batting, open it out and cut it into 

 strips about three inches wide, and tie one of these strips tightly 

 al)out the middle to any part of the trunk of the tree, so as to com- 

 pletely encircle it. In attempting to cross this barrier, the multitude 

 of minute, horny hooks which fringe the extremities of the thick, 

 fleshy feet of the catepillar become so entangled among the fibres of 

 the cotton that further progress is impossible, and the hungry worm 

 wishing to ascend, will be found walking disconsolately around and 

 around the tree, looking in vain for some way over the difficult pass. 

 As they have no other means of getting into the tree than that of 

 crawling up it, when once the trees are cleane<l, this harmless remedy 

 is most effectual in keeping them so, and its use will result in a great 

 saving of time and labor; even heavy rains do not impair the efficiency 

 of this barrier. 



When large trees are swarming with the caterpillars, as is the case 

 in many orchards, such trees sliould be visited every morning, and the 



