STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
435 
have applied has driven them from the tree; whereas it is their 
natural habit to crawl trom the tree at this time. Now in all 
cases like this it is an easy matter to conduct an experiment in 
such a manner that there can be no deception or mistake in the 
result. Obviously, if sulphur, applied in the manner stated, has 
any effect in rendering a tree repulsive to the worms infesting 
it, it is in consequence of its being absorbed and circulated in 
the sap to every limb and leaf of the tree. For the purpose, 
therefore, of ascertaining the effect of sulphur upon the apple 
tree caterpillar, I on the third of May cut off the limb of a wild 
cherry tree on which was a nest, the worms of which were a 
quarter of an inch in length, and inserted the but-end of this 
limb in a cup of sulphur slightly moistened with water—where¬ 
by the twigs and leaves would certainly become much more 
strongly impregnated with this substance than they ever can be 
from sulphur inserted in a hole bored in the trunk of a tree. A 
limb containing another nest was also cut off and inserted in a 
cup containing water only. These two nests were placed side 
by side in my office, where they would be subject to the same 
temperature and influences, except in the one particular speci¬ 
fied. As the leaves upon the first mentioned limb became con¬ 
sumed by the worms, a fresh limb the but of which had been in¬ 
serted in moistened sulphur during the twelve hours preceding, 
was placed in contact with it. Sulphur was also sprinkled upon 
a part of the nest. But the worms seemed to wholly disregard 
this, traveling freely around and over it, and soon inclosing it 
under the newly woven tissues of their nest. At the end of nine 
days the caterpillars in both nests were larger than any of those 
out of doors, the temperature of the office warmed by a stove 
upon chilly days and evenings, having evidently favored their 
growth. At this time, May 12th, the worms which had fed upon 
ordinary leaves were four-tenths of an inch in length; those 
which had subsisted upon leaves impregnated with sulphur were 
double their size, measuring 0.80 to 0.85. It was clearly appa¬ 
rent, therefore, that so far from being in the least degree prejudi 
cial to them, the sulphur had rendered them more healthy and 
robust, rapidly accelerating their growth. And it hence is quite 
probable that those hundreds of persons in our country who 
