Practical Considerations. 



167 



under my observation, some insects would get into the 

 trees, so as to require the daily shaking of these, morning 

 and evening. This will sometimes have to be done, when 

 the bulk of the insects have become fledged, even where 

 tin is used, for a certain proportion of the insects will then 

 fly into the trees. They do most damage during the night, 

 and care should be had that the trees be unloaded of their 

 voracious freight just before dark. 



Most cultivated plants may be measurably protected 

 from the ravages of these young by good cultivation and a 

 constant stirring of the soil. The young have an antipa- 

 thy to a loose and friable surface, which incommodes them 

 and hinders their progress, and they will often leave such 

 a surface for one more hard and firm. 



Finally, though insisting on ditching and the digging of 

 pits as, all things considered, the best and most reliable 

 insurance against the ravages of the young-locusts, I would 

 urge our farmers not to rely on these means alone, but to 

 employ all the other means recommended, according as 

 convenience and opportunity suggest. 



One of my correspondents, Capt. John R. Wherry, of 

 Boonville, Mo., has suggested the use of strips of canvas, 

 dipped in liquid sulphur and attached to stakes to be stuck 

 in the ground. He thinks that if the strips are lit at even- 

 ing the fumes will drive the insects away from the locality 

 they pervade. The suggestion strikes me quite favorably 

 as a means of protecting orchards, and I would recommend 

 its trial. The strips should be dipped in hot sulphur, 

 allowed to cool, and then staked to the windward of the 

 orchard, if the wind is stirring. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE WINGED INSECTS. 



The complete destruction of the winged insects, when 

 they swoop down upon a country in prodigous swarms, is 



