November 9, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
416 
A GREAT deal ha? been written for and against—chiefly against 
—Shakespeare’s assertion that the sufferings of a crushed 
beetle may be equal to the pangs of an expiring giant. Recent 
investigations in insect anatomy tend to prove that insects possess 
a nervous system, and that allowing for their size and the general 
structure of their bodies, they must have much more sensibility 
to pleasure or pain than the majority of naturalists have hitherto 
supposed. However that may be, I think all gardeners will agree 
that the destruction of their insect enemies, which has from time 
to time to be effected, ought to be managed so as to give no 
needless pain. Our fruit trees are attacked by a variety of species 
in different orders, but some of our very troublesome foes are the 
caterpillars of moths which damage the buds, the leaves, and even 
the flowers or immature fruit. Catering for their own benefit, 
they fulfil their name by “ pilling ” or peeling whatever they 
attack, and some of the smaller species do most harm by their 
numbers and persistency. It is to be regretted, I may note, that 
certain authors, either for the sake of swelling the list, or from 
ignorance, have given a bad name to species that are comparatively 
harmless. 
That handsome moth, known as the Eyed Hawk (Smerinthus 
ocellatus) is mentioned as an enemy of the Apple, and it is true 
that its striped and horned caterpillar may be found on that tree, 
but it prefers Willow or Poplar, and is never abundant enough to 
do serious damage. An accusation has also been lodged against 
the green and gold caterpillar of the Emperor (Saturnia Carpini), 
but it is very seldom indeed discovered upon the Apple, as it 
prefers Heath and the Thorns. With all deductions, there remain 
far too many caterpillars against which precautions must be taken 
to check their increase, and it is desirable to kill our enemies while 
they are in a state of quiescence, whether as torpid, hybernating 
caterpillars, or as unconscious chrysalids, or in the earliest or egg 
stage. Hence the closing months of the year affords good oppor¬ 
tunity for efforts that will be rewarded next season by a healthy, 
satisfactory growth of shoots, leaves, and fruit. The eggs of some 
species may be washed off trees by the simple application of warm 
water, others are removed by the operation of pruning. The use 
of the wash, which has been often recommended, made from 
petroleum and softsoap, will dispose of some hybernating cater¬ 
pillars from the trunks and branches, also chrysalids which may be 
lodged in angles or in crannies. 
Where we have reason to suspect that buds may contain larvae of 
insects, it is advantageous to dredge them with soot and lime mixed 
in equal proportions. It is probable a strong solution of Gishurst 
compound will prove not only fatal to insects, but will destroy the 
vitality of eggs it touches. At various periods during the autumn 
numerous caterpillars descend from the trees and bushes to undergo 
pupation in or upon the earth, and the winter should not be allowed 
to slip away without some measures being taken to kill such 
chrysalids as can be reached. Many are on the surface of the soil, 
or just beneath it, and they can be extirpated by the removal and 
burning of an inch or two of the soil round trees, with any growth 
of grass or weeds that may be upon it. This is one means of 
checking the troublesome winter moth caterpillar, Cheimatobia 
brumata. Those that lie deeper in the earth may be reached by 
forking, and then applying quicklime or gas lime which has been 
No. 698.—VoL. XXVII., Third Series. 
spread out and exposed for a month to the air, and will not then 
injure the roots of the trees or the underground stems. Quassia 
tea, made strong, is said to kill most chrysalids ; I am not sure of 
this ; a soapy solution might also, by obstructing the pores through 
which they obtain air, even underground. 
Considerable attention has been called of late to the species 
just mentioned, and especially to the fact that the plan of placing 
a ring of some sticky substance round the trunks of the trees, to 
impede the ascent of the female moths, is not the effectual remedy 
once supposed, because some of them, though themselves wingless, 
are carried upwards to the stems and branches by their male com¬ 
panions. Still, many may be stopped by this preventive measure, 
and I think Miss Ormerod is right in her opinion that a better method 
than daubing the tree itself is to place a hayband or rope, well 
saturated with Stockholm tar mixed with grease, all round it, 
quite close, but not touching. Owing to the warmth and long 
continuance of the summer the winter moths were unusually 
forward this year, emerging at the end of October and early in 
November. It would be advisable, therefore, besides other pre¬ 
cautions, to shake the boughs, as the moths fall readily, and their 
eggs should bo looked for in crevices of the bark and angles 
amongst the branches. They have been detected on buds also. As 
each female can deposit about two hundred, it is not surprising 
that the caterpillars are abundant, and they do not seem to have 
any notable parasitic foe. But some birds seek them out, the star¬ 
ling especially. In Germany and France the caterpillar of the 
mottled umber (Hybernia defoliaria) is apt to defoliate the Apple. 
It is, however, solitary, though the eggs are laid in patches by the 
wingless females towards the end of the year ; it is very common 
with us some seasons on Whitethorn and various trees, but is 
seldom seen on the Apple. It would have to be dealt with in the 
same way as the winter moth caterpillar should it visit the Apple 
or Pear. 
Upon these I have sometimes found caterpillars of the figure- 
of-eight moth (Diloba cmruleo-cephala), but it is more frequent 
on Whitethorn. Abroad they complain of the species as an 
early enemy of the Apricot and Peach, for it is rather a hearty 
eater. The eggs are laid at the base of lateral shoots by the end 
of September usually, four or six together. Vigorous spraying 
would probably remove them. No washes, however, will operate 
upon those of the lackey moth (Bombyx neustria), which are not 
uncommon upon the twigs of the Apple every season, and are 
placed in rings, protected by a sort of varnish. The caterpillars 
being exceptionally abundant during last May and Juno, it is likely 
there was a larger deposit of eggs than usual subsequently, hence 
the spirals of eggs should be sought and removed. The newly 
hatched broods of caterpillars are often overlooked by the English 
grower of fruit. In France the proprietor of an orchard is very 
careful to inspect the twigs early in the season, and cut away the 
webs enclosing the young colonies. 
With regard to those caterpillars that live through the winter 
socially, there is no excuse for the fruit grower if he neglects to 
hunt up their nests ; fortunately for us the brown tail moth, so 
injurious abroad, and the black-veined white butterfly have at 
present ceased to trouble us. Last spring the small ermine (Hypono- 
meuta padella) had numerous broods on the Apple, but owing to 
the drought some of these perished ; still it is advisable to examine 
the twigs for any of the new brood that may be waiting for next 
spring. The eggs are laid during the autumn under a patch of 
brownish green, which is much the colour of the tree, and the 
young caterpillars remain under this without eating from October 
to April. Amongst the chrysalids that may be destroyed now are 
those of the codling moth (Carpocapse pomonana), for in our 
country the greater number of these Apple pests quit the fruit 
when it falls as soon as possible, and ascend the tree nearest at 
hand, where they spin a little cocoon under the loose bark. 
—Entomologist. 
No. 2351.— VoL. LXXXIX., Old Series. 
