434 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
and thrust into the nest, it is said will kill many of the insects 
and compel others to escape. 
Burning the nests and thus destroying the worms when at rest 
within them, has been recommended. A very neat method of 
effecting this was given by Prof. Mapes at the meeting of the 
Farmers’ club of New-York on the fourth of September last. It 
is to saturate the nest with a mixture of alcohol and camphene 
and set it on fire. I have not tested the efficacy of this mode, but, 
clustered together in a mass as the worms commonly are in their 
nests I should be fearful those in the inner part of the mass 
would not be killed by the transitory heat thus produced, since 
hot water fails to destroy them. Another method which has 
often been resorted to is to hold to the nest the muzzle of a gun 
lightly loaded with powder and discharge it. I have been in¬ 
formed that only a part of the worms are commonly destroyed 
by this operation. 
Sulphur has been in higher repute and has been oftener re¬ 
sorted to in this country than any other remedy, for expelling 
caterpillars and all kinds of worms from trees. A hole is bored 
in the trunk of the tree to the depth of about six inches; this is 
filled with sulphur and a plug is inserted to retain it from being 
washed out by the rain or by sap flowing from the wound. This 
remedy obtained much currency from the experiments of the 
late George Webster of Albany, reported in the Memoirs of the 
old New-York Board of Agriculture, vol. ii, p. 250, and exten¬ 
sively copied into other publications at that period. And like 
Mr. Webster, many others have become assured of the efficacy of 
this remedy, from the mere fact that the worms have all disappear¬ 
ed from the infested trees within a day or two after this measure 
has been resorted to. Now there is a peculiar liability to be de¬ 
ceived and misled, by experiments like this. The larvre of in¬ 
sects generally, become most voracious and make the greatest 
havoc, just as they are arriving at maturity. And as they are 
now grown to a larger size than they had previously been, they 
commonly are not noticed until this time. Having nearly com¬ 
pleted their growth, they of course forsake the tree which they 
infest within a few days. Persons not conversant with the hab¬ 
its of these vermin, will hence suppose the remedy which they 
