NovEMBER, 1906 
That old hole probably holds dozens of fall web worms in the pupa state. 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
cement. Every hole in a tree is a disgrace 
Those of the white-marked tussock moth 
are covered with a white frothy mass, while 
those of the rusty tussock moth are laid upon 
a leaf in a single layer with no covering. 
They are particularly common on plum trees. 
The caterpillars of the tussock moths, with 
their long, black, horn-like pencils of black 
hairs projecting from the head and a tail- 
like brush at the tip of the abdomen, are 
among the most striking of the insect in- 
habitants of the orchard. Along the back are 
four thick tufts or brushes of white hairs from 
which the white-marked tussock moth secures 
its name and just a little back of these are 
two bright coral-red tubercles. Unfor- 
tunately, many of the hairs of these cater- 
pillars are barbed and when falling on a 
sensitive skin produce an annoying irritation 
similar to that caused by the brown-tail moth 
of New England, and to which the tussock 
moths are first cousins, Often the tussock 
moths become so abundant on the shade trees 
of our eastern cities as seriously to defoliate 
them in midsummer, so that they should be 
combated on shade as well as orchard trees. 
Dangling from the twigs of young trees are 
the twisted cases of the apple leaf-crumpler, 
which often does considerable injury to the 
young foliage. Each contains a small cater- 
pillar resting preparatory to its depredations 
of the next spring. Pick them off and burn. 
Burn all the prunings from trees, young and 
old, for the eggs and winter cases of many 
small insects which would escape the un- 
trained eye, such as plant lice eggs and the 
cases of the pistol case-bearer, occur upon 
them. 
All dead or diseased wood should be cut 
out and burned as it harbors many of the 
small bark beetles such as the fruit-tree bark 
beetle, also known as the shot-hole borer 
from the fact that its work looks as if the limb 
had been hit with a charge of bird shot. 
Paint or wax over any stubs or cuts left upon 
the trees in pruning, for otherwise decay 
will set in and a ready entrance for borers 
permitted. 
In New England the webs of the dreaded 
brown-tail moth should be pruned off and 
burned and as this pest is readily transported, 
Winter cases of the apple leaf crumpler 
Clean it out, and fill it with 
179 
it will be well to be on the lookout for it in 
other eastern states. The brown-tail moth now 
occurs in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
and Maine, and before long will appear in 
New York and New Jersey. As automobiles 
are known to have carried the gypsy moth 
caterpillars for sixty miles northward it 
would not be surprising if those from neigh- 
boring states which tour New England in 
summer should carry the brown-tail cater- 
pillars south or westward. 
Often when plant lice have been abundant 
in an orchard the previous season or on 
melons or other vegetables near by, large 
numbers of the well-known little black- 
spotted red ladybird beetles will be found 
keeping each other warm beneath the bark 
or in a hollow at the base of a tree. Do not 
disturb them, if possible, for they destroy 
large numbers of plant lice and other small 
soft-bodied insects and should be protected. 
Occasionally under bark or on a twig will be 
found a fluffy cottony mass, which if torn 
open will be found to contain numerous 
small white egg-like cocoons of the finest and 
whitest silk. These are the cocoons of small 
parasitic flies which lay their eggs upon vari- 
ous caterpillars and whose maggots live 
within the caterpillars, eventually killing 
them. During the winter and often in sum- 
mer they are found in these cocoons, some- 
times under an old shingle or board lying 
in the orchard. ‘They too should be recog- 
nized as friends and not destroyed, for if 
we do not protect our insect friends we may 
sometimes do more harm than good in our 
indiscriminate ‘slaughter of the innocents.” 
Destroying one insect ‘‘in time” will not 
only” save nine” as goes the old saying, but 
even hundreds. Hence the value of this 
winter work. 
Collect and destroy now these frothy egg masses of the white tussock moth, or the caterpillars may eat 
all the leaves off your fruit and shade trees 
