State Agricultural Society. 
911 
AN EFFECTUAL REMEDY CALLED FOR. HELLEBORE MOST EFFICACIOUS. 
of a week I found the grubs as thick as ever. I had the picking 
repeated, with the same result. I could not think w lie nee they 
came, knowing they did not come, as my old gardener would have 
it, from the blighty air. On examining the leaves carefully from 
the edge of which the mature caterpillar had been picked, I observed 
a numerous progeny, on the under surface, of very minute cater¬ 
pillars, hardly visible from being exactly the color of the leaf. I 
then had every leaf lucked, on which a caterpillar was found, into 
a basket and burned them, and suffered no further inconvenience. 
I therefore recommend to pick and destroy every leaf on which a 
caterpillar is found.” Mr. L. seems to suppose the minute young 
worms were the progeny of the mature worms which had been 
picked from the leaves and destroyed—an idea almost as crude as 
that of his ancient gardener, who supposed they were generated 
by “ the blighty air.” 
An anonymous correspondent (page 501) says his gooseberries 
in the spring were much infested with the caterpillars. He tried 
various ways to destroy them. Fresh slacked lime throwed over 
the trees had no effect whatever, and to see if quicklime would 
kill them or not, he covered some of them with it, but they soon 
were seen creeping out of the lime and making their escape. At 
last he had recourse to hand-picking, and by perseverance destroyed 
all the caterpillars in his small garden, and thought he had thus 
done with them, for this year at least. But he had that morning 
discovered to his surprise that his trees were again covered with 
the destructive things, and that the leaves were also lined with 
eggs, the same as in the spring. He says, “Various remedies 
have been proposed for their destruction, none of which, I think, 
are effectual, except hand-picking, which in large gardens would 
be a tedious operation, and my object is, to induco some of vour 
more experienced correspondents to attend to this subject, and find 
out, if possible, some ready mode of destroying the caterpillar, or 
of otherwise preserving the trees from its destructive ravages.” 
To this the editors of the Chronicle add—“We most sincerely 
desire to hear of some Effectual remedy for this pest.” 
This call brought a number of responses, certifying to the effi¬ 
cacy of White Hellebore (Veratrum album). II. Groom (page 533) 
directs to make a strong decoction of the root, adding a handful of 
green tops of elder, and syringe the bushes with this when cold. 
He supposes the decoction drying on the leaves poisons the cater- 
