MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES, &c. 185 



animals ; perhaps, also, the moisture of this foam may serve 

 to secure them from the sultry rays of the sun. 



As the froth emitted by these insects is very unsightly, and 

 as they are also hurtful to trees, by eating the leaves, they 

 should be destroyed by rubbing off the larvae with the hand, 

 and afterwards watering the tree plentifully with soft water. 



Of Earwigs, 



Earwigs are very destructiveto fruit, particularly peaches. 

 The method that I would recommend for destroying them, and 

 which I have long pursued with success, is as follows : 



Take old bean stalks, cut them about nine inches long, tie 

 them up in small bundles, with some pack-thread, or with small 

 yellow willows ; and hang them about on different parts of the 

 trees. The first thing you do in the morning, being provided 

 with a board about eighteen inches square, and a small wooden 

 trowel, take down the bundles of bean stalks, one by one, strike 

 them against the board, and with your trowel kill the earwigs 

 as they fall out of the stalks. If you follow this up every 

 morning (or every other morning), you will be able to keep 

 them under. 



The foregoing method will answer for any sort of trees 

 infested with earwigs. In some years I have seen a great part 

 of the fruit, especially the smooth-skinned sorts, destroyed by 

 these insects and a small green caterpillar; and in a scarce 

 year of fruit, the leaves of peaches are frequently destroyed by 

 them. 



Of the Ant. 



The Ant is very destructive to fruit, especially the peach 

 when ripe ; you will frequently see these insects travelling all 

 over the trees, and sometimes the fruit will be filled with them. 

 The best method that I have found to destroy them is, to get a 

 sharp pointed wooden stake, or an iron crow, if the ground be 

 hard, and with it bore a hole not far from the stem of the tree, 

 and as deep as the ground will permit. By stirring the earth, 

 you will set the ants in motion : Then work your stake or crow 

 round the sides of the hole, making them as smooth as you 

 can ; the ants will come to the mouth of the hole and tumble in, 

 and by the shape of the hole and smoothness of its sides, 

 will be prevented from climbing up again. When you see a 

 great many in the bottom of the hole, pour in some water from 

 a watering pot ; and thus you may drown thousands of them. 



This is an easy and simple way to get rid of ants. Some 

 are of opinion that they do good by eating the aphidts from off 



