82 



A most effective plan for getting rid of the pest is thus described by W. Saunders 

 (Report for 1874) : 



" On the 29th of July, when going through the orchards in the afternoon, the new- 

 brood of flies were found in the greatest abundance, resting on the young leaves, or on 

 those portions of green which still remained on the leaves partially eaten by the last 

 brood ; they were congregated, however, more especially on those trees where green 

 leaves were most abundant. On disturbing them they would fall to the ground with the 

 antennje bent under their bodies, and the head bent forward. On half a dozen trees we 

 caught about 60 specimens, and might have taken hundreds, they were so thickly spread 

 that in many instances there were two and three on a single leaf. By the last week in 

 August, the second brood of slugs were hatched ; some very tiny creatures, others by 

 this time half grown. Now, those trees which had previously escaped were all mor^ or 

 less covered, and would no doubt soon have been stripped, had not some measures been 

 at once taken to destroy them. A raised platform was rigged up in a one horse cart in 

 which was placed a barrel of water in which a pound of powdered hellebore had been 

 mixed, and from the elevated stand this mixture was showered lightly on the trees from 

 the rose of a watering-pot. It was astonishing how quickly the trees were cleaned, 

 scarcely one could be found on a tree the morning after the application had been made, 

 and ten pounds of hellebore with five or six days work of man and horse served to go 

 over the whole ground, the work being completed in much less time than we had supposed 

 it could." 



With the exception of some species of Aphis, or Plant Lice, which affect many kinds 

 of trees, the foregoing are the only species of insects attacking fruit trees that appear to 

 be common to this country and England. There are, however, some species very similar 

 lo well-known pests here that cause trouble and anxiety to the old country gardener. 

 Among these we may mention 



6. The Lackey Moth — Clisiocampa neustria, Curtis, 



which is very closely allied in appearance and habits to our familiar " Tent Cater- 

 pillars" (Clisiocaynpa Americana and Sylvatica), as may be learnt from the following 

 description, which would almost answer for our own species : — 



" The caterpillars of the Lackey Moth are injurious to oak, elm, birch, etc, but are 

 especially pests when they attack the apple. The eggs are to be found in winter and 

 spring, laid on naked twigs, in compact spirally-arranged rings about half an inch long. 

 From these eggs small black hairy caterpillars hatch about the beginning of May, and 

 immediately spin a web over themselves, which they enlarge from time to time as needed 

 for their accommodation. In these webs they live in companies of from fifty to two 

 hundred, and from them the caterpillars go out to feed on the leaves, returning for shelter 

 in wet weather or at night. When alarmed, they all let themselves down by threads, 

 either to the ground, or else, after hanging in the air till the alarm is past, they go up 

 again by their threads to the tree. 



" When full fed, which is about midsummer, they are an inch and a-half in length, 

 and hairy; of a bluish-grey colour, marked with two black eye-like spots on the head, 

 two black spots with a scarlet space between them on the next ring, and three scarlet 

 stripes on each side and a white one on the back, all bordered with black along the rest 

 of the caterpillar. At this stage the caterpillars no longer live in companies, but each 

 finds some sheltered spot, between leaves, in hedges, beneath the bars of railings, under 

 roofs of sheds, or even on the tops of walls, where it spins a sulphur-coloured silken 

 cocoon, mixed with sulphur-coloured powder and with hairs from the skin woven into it, 

 from which the moths hatch in July. 



" The moths are variable in colouring, mostly with rusty-fox or ochrey markings, 

 but some have the fore wings of a red-brown, with two pale ochreous streaks ; others 

 yellowish, with dark brown bars ; and others are variously tinted : the hinder wings are 

 reddish-brown. It is stated that the moths, and especially the females, seldom fly, but 

 remain concealed by day under leaves and in long grass, and come out at night. 



" The caterpillars seldom do the enormous quantity of mischief with us in England 



