2 2 



"the pale yellowish line remains. Some are found of a dull greenish-yellow, and others of 

 a clay color, with slender interrupted blackish lines on the sides, and small spots of the 

 same color on the back. Some are green, with two white stripes on the back. The 

 head and feet partake of the general color of the body ; the belly is paler. When not 

 eating, they remain stretched out at full length, and resting on their fore and hind legs 

 beneatb the leaves. When full grown and well fed they measure nearly or quite one inch 

 in length. They leave off eating when about four weeks old, and begin to quit the trees ; 

 some creep down by the trunk, but great numbers let themselves down by their threads 

 from the branches, their instincts prompting them to get to the ground by the most direct 

 and. easiest course. After reaching the ground, they immediately burrow in the earth to 

 the depth of from two to six inches, where they make little cavities or cells in the ground, 

 by turning round repeatedly and fastening the loose grains of earth about them with a 

 -few silken threads. Within twenty-four hours afterwards they are changed to chrysa- 

 lids in their cells." 



The trees most commonly frequented by these worms, are the elm and basawood of 

 the forest, and the apple, pear, cherry and plum, of the garden or orchard. When they 

 appear in large numbers, as indeed they commonly do, they completely strip the trees of 

 their foliage, and, though they make an effort to put forth a fresh crop of leaves the same 

 season, and occasionally produce a few blossoms and immature fruit, if the defoliation is 

 repeated, the effect is certain death to the afflicted trees. 



Remedies. — As the female moth is wingless, and is obliged to crawl up the trunk of 

 the tree in order to deposit her eggs, from which the destructive caterpillars are produced, 

 it is evident that the simplest and most effectual remedy will be to prevent her from gain- 

 ing access to the required positions by placing some obstacle around the trunk of the tree. 

 The cheapest and readiest plan is to fasten bandages, three or four inches wide, of old 

 sacking or rags, tightly around the trunk of the tree, say two and a half or three feet 

 from the ground ; smear them well with a thick clay wash, and on this, when dry, spread 

 as much tar as will cling to the bandage without running over the bark and thus injuring 

 the tree. The tar should be applied shortly before sun-down, as the moth is nocturnal in 

 its habits, and should be renewed every warm and mild evening, as long as the moths are 

 about. This may appear a troublesome operation, but where canker worms are prevalent 

 it is far preferable to losing one's choicest fruit trees. To prevent the tar from becoming 

 dry and .hard, any common oil may be mixed with it to advantage. 



As this pest is so very destructive and so well known to our ingenious neighbors, it 

 is not at all surprising to find that they have invented and patented various " tree pro- 

 tectors," and other apparatus for circumventing these insects. One kind consists of a 

 strip of india-rubber cloth, an inch wide, which surrounds the trunk of the tree, and has 

 projecting from it, " at an angle of forty-five degrees," a strip of tin or zinc about three 

 inches wide. The smooth sloping surface of the metal is calculated to interfere with the 

 climbing propensities of moth. Another — " Foster's tree protector" — consists of a nar- 

 row trough of tin, suspended to the trunk of a tree by a strip of cotton, and intended 

 to be filled with oil. A third—" Merrit's Patent tree protector "—is much more elaborate 

 and expensive, though possibly not more effective. It is composed of a grooved circle of 

 glass surrounded with iron, and hung to a tent-like piece of cloth, which keeps the glass 

 some inches distant from the tree-trunk. The moths are expected to be all captured with- 

 in this tent, being unable to ascend any higher ; unfortunately, however, the young cater- 

 pillars are able to crawl over the smoothest glass by means of the glutinous silken thread 

 they spin. 



A belt of sheepskin saturated with kerosene oil, and with the woolly side out, is 

 said to be, and if carefully applied and kept constantly saturated probably is, a useful 

 protector ; but we should strongly advise our readers who are in search of a remedy, to 

 have nothing to do with many Yankee nostrums as useless as they are absurd. Such, for 

 instance, is the often recommended plan of boring holes in the tree, and inserting lumps 

 of sulphur, in order to poison the worms ! This remedy cannot possibly hurt the worm3, 

 as the sulphur will remain unchanged in the tree for years, but may possibly be as 

 injurious as the insect itself. Some, again, drive nails into the tree with the same object ; 

 another has recommended quicksilver as infallible; while yet another speculator sells 



