THE APPLE. 



65 



extirpator of caterpillars should always be abroad and busy before that 

 time, and while they are all lying quietly in the nests. And let him 

 never forget that he may do more in an hour, when he commences early 

 in the season, than he will in a whole day at a later period, when they 

 are thoroughly scattered among the trees. If they are allowed to remain 

 unmolested, they spin their cocoons about the middle of June, and in a 

 fortnight's time comes forth from them a fresh brood of moths, which, 

 if they are not put an end to by bonfires, will again lay the eggs of an 

 infinite number of caterpillars for the next spring. 



The Canker-worm {Anisopteryx pometaria of Harris) is in some 

 parts of the country one of the worst enemies of the Apple, destroying 

 also its foliage with great rapidity. It is not yet common here, but in 

 some parts of New England it has become a serious enemy. The male 

 is a moth, with pale ash-colored wings, with a black dot, a little more 

 than an inch across. The female is wingless, oval, dark ash-colored 

 above, and gray beneath. 



The canker-worm usually rises out of the ground very early in the 

 spring, chiefly in March, as soon as the ground is free from frost ; 

 though a few also find their way up in the autumn. The females, having 

 no wings, climb slowly up the tmnks of the trees, while the winged 

 naales hover about to pair with them. Very soon after this, if we ex- 

 amine the trees we shall see the eggs, of which every female lays some 

 sixty or a hundred, glued over, closely arranged in rows, and placed in 

 the forks of branches and among the young twigs. About the twentieth 

 of May these eggs are hatched, and the canker-worms, dusky brown, or 

 ash-colored, with a yellow stripe, make their appearance, and commence 

 preying upon the foliage. When they are abundant they make rapid 

 progress, and in places where the colony is firmly established, they will 

 sometimes strip an orchard in a few days, making it look as if a fire had 

 passed over it. After feeding about four weeks, they descend into the 

 ground three or four inches, where they remain in a chrysalis form, to 

 emerge again the next season. As the female is not provided with 

 wings, they do not spread very rapidly from one place to another. 



The attacks upon the canker-worm should be chiefly made upon the 

 female in her way from the ground up the trunk of the tree. 



The common mode of protecting Apple-trees is to surround the 

 trunk with a belt or bandage of canvas, four or five inches wide, which 

 is then thickly smeared with tar. In order to prevent the tar from 

 soon becoming dry and hard, a little coarse train-oil must be well mixed 

 with it ; and it should be watched and renewed as often as it appears 

 necessary. This tarred belt catches and detains all the females on their 

 upward journey, and prevents them from ascending the tree to lay their 

 eggs. And if kept in order it will very efiectually deter and destroy 

 them. When the canker-worm is abundant it is necessary to apply the 

 tarred bandage in October, and let it remain till the last of May, but 

 usually it will be sufficient to use it in the spring. It is probable that 

 a mixture of coal-tar and common tar would be the best application, 

 as it is more oflensive, and will not so easily dry and become useless by 

 exposure to the air and sun. Some persons apply the tar directly to the 

 stems of the tree, but this has a very injurious efi^ect upon the trunk. 

 Old India rubber, melted in an iron vessel over a very hot fire, forms a 

 very adhesive fluid which is not aff'ected by exposure to the weather, 

 and is considered, by those who have made use of it, the best substance 



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