OF THE FARM AifD GAEDEN. 



201 



insect in one year, and the eggs must consequently, like 

 those of the Tent- worm of the Apple tree, be exposed, 

 on the twigs and limbs to w^hich they are attached, to all 

 the heats of July and August without hatching out, and 

 • to all the frosts of December and January without freez- 

 ing out. At length, when the proper time arrives, and 

 the Gooseberry and Currant bushes are out in full leaf 

 so as to afford plenty of food, the tiny tough little egg 

 hatches out about the latter end of May, and in a little 

 more than three weeks the worms attain their full larval 

 development. 



This Gooseberry Span-worm was first noticed near 

 Chicago in 1862 or '63; and for two or three years after- 

 wards it increased rapidly, so as in most gardens not to 

 leave a single leaf on the Gooseberry, and in many in- 

 stances to entirely strip the Currant bushes. It is quite 

 common also in St. Louis and Jefferson Counties in 

 Missouri, and has entirely stripped the Gooseberry 

 bushes on many farms in these counties. Elsewhere in 

 the Western States it is not by any means common; but 

 in many localities in the East it has been a severe pest 

 for a great number of years, especially in the States of 

 New York and Pennsylvania. This is a native insect 

 which no doubt formerly lived upon our several native 

 species of Gooseberry. When cultivated Gooseberries 

 were planted within their reach, they manifested a 

 decided preference for these, and multiplied so rapidly 

 as to become, in some localities, a serious pest to the 

 fruit grower. 



Remedies. — These worms, when disturbed, let them- 

 selves down from the bushes, and hang suspended by a 

 web. This habit may be made useful in destroying 

 them. If the bushes are shaken by means of a forked 

 stick, while the worms are still young, these will at once 

 let themselves down by their threads; the stick may be 

 then passed along against the threads to draw the worms 



