5nly 4, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
1 
4 «**« — 
'fTIHE alarming irruption of caterpillars, which has apparently 
_L done so large an amount of damage to our fruit crop 3 this year, 
maturally calls for investigation as to its causes and possible reme¬ 
dies. It is all the more singular in its occurrence, because just at 
•this time there has been much discussion upon fruit growing in 
England as a source of profit, and the experiences of the present 
•summer cannot be said to be by any means encouraging. At this 
moment, however, the fruit trees about North Kent seem to be 
■suffering m3re from an attack made upon them by swarms of 
aphis or fly than from the work of caterpillars, but doubtless 
these have rendered the trees less capable of withstanding the 
<exhausting influence of the prolific sucking insects. Though the 
caterpillars have not quite gone the greater part have vanished ; 
some of course have been killed and some have reached maturity, 
spinning their cocoons, or entering the soil to become chrysalids. 
On investigating the matter there are three things which must 
floe borne in mind at the outset. The first, of primary importance 
'was pointed out some weeks ago by a correspondent of this Journal— 
namely, that it was probable 1889 would not be a good fruit year, as a 
large number of the trees had suffered from the ungenial weather 
which characterised the summer of 1888. Secondly, that although 
"it is now agreed that insects will attack trees perfectly healthy, 
•still, should there be any unsoundnes3, the harm done by the 
insects is intensified. And, thirdly, that in many places the trees 
suffered considerably from caterpillars during May and June last 
■year, and those now complained of, being their progeny, are de¬ 
scended from eggs deposited last summer and autumn, not during the 
present season. Probably rather too much effect has been attri¬ 
buted to the caterpillars, the falling off in the yield of fruit which 
•seems all but certain generally, arising from a combination of 
•causes. The abundance of caterpillars, however, was a palpable 
fact, yet showing a singular capriciousness, even in the space of a 
few hundred yards, for which no doubt there is an explanation, 
though we cannot discover it. 
Here is an important fact as bearing upon the appearance of these 
•caterpillar swarms in our gardens and orchards, that plants outside 
gardens, and apt to be infested by the same species, have had less 
"than the average upon them. As instances, I may name the Sloe, 
Dog Rose, Whitethorn, and to some extent, the Elm. Again, 
the fact is well known that of the hosts of caterpillars emerging 
into daylight during our variable spring, the majority are, in most 
years, destroyed by the winds or rains of April and May. The 
spring of 1889 was on the whole favourable to caterpillar life, and 
the much-complained-of easterly wind, if unpleasant to man and 
blighting to vegetation, does some good work which we missed this 
year. Several of my friends have suggested that the common 
•practice of allowing grass to grow round the trunks of the trees in 
our Kentish orchards favours the increase of caterpillars, but I 
•cannot see the connection, except in this way, that it is of advan¬ 
tage to disturb the surface soil about the trees when we notice the 
presence of caterpillars which enter the earth to undergo transfor¬ 
mation. A friend, who is an observer of the habits of birds, tells 
me that he thinks the insect-eating birds have either been fewer 
Id numbers or less diligent than usual. I remarked to him that 
some of the species that have been abundant are hairy, therefore 
seldom touched by birds. This is certainly true of the lackey cater- 
No. 471.—Vol. XIX., Thibd Sebies. 
pillar and the brown tail, as I think of the ermine species. So 
much has been written unfavourable te the house sparrow, that I 
am glad to report this bird has been seen picking off by hundreds 
the caterpillar of the winter moth (Cheimatobia brumata). 
From the reports that have been published, and from my own 
observations, I conclude that this hn3 been the caterpillar which has 
done the greatest amount of mischief, its attack upon the trees 
having been made while the buds were beginning to expand, and 
the insect being also in unusual abundance. It has attacked all 
fruit trees alike, and the numerous avebs have an evil effect, as well 
a3 the incessant work of the caterpillar’s jaws. The late Edward 
Newman showed us long ago that of all the remedies for this pest 
nothing is better than a circle of some sticky substance drawn 
round the tree3, which the female mothq when they begin to crawl 
up the trunks on their emergence, find themselves unable to pass, 
being wingless. I have seen the moths by hundreds thus trapped 
by a tarry compound, which, of course, means the extinction of 
many thousands of eggs. An odd thing in 1889 is that this capital 
preventive is said to have failed in some instances, the caterpillars 
appearing numerously where the trees had thus been treated during 
the autumn. There are two ways in which this might be explained. 
It is possible that the process of tree-daubing may have been done 
too late, the moths being out soon, and having ascended the trunks 
before this precaution was taken. Or it may be that a portion of 
the brood remain sometimes in the chrysalis state on the trees, but 
I must confess I have never seen an instance, having always found 
the caterpillars burying themselves in the earth when full grown. 
Then, again, some gardeners speak of finding egg3 of the winter 
moths at the tops of twig3, a position in which the wingles3 female 
scarcely ever places them, and I imagine these must be the eggs of 
another species. 
Next in abundance, I think, to the caterpillar of the winter 
moth has been that of the lackey (Bjmbyx neu3tria), which is yet 
about, and now in its solitary stage of life. This insect hatches out 
later than the preceding, and it has been recommended to search for 
and clear away its rings of eggs, which remain in the branches and 
twigs from autumn to spring. According to Mr. Wood, the name 
should be “ lacquer ” moth, from the glossy appearance of these 
necklets of eggs. There should not be any difficulty in removing 
from fruit trees the bulk of these caterpillars while they are 
juvenile, as they begin life by feeding upon the lower branches, and 
the webs or nests are conspicuous, being usually studded over with 
numerous cast-off skins. This caterpillar is recognisable by its 
stripes of blue, red, yellow, and white, and its brown head with 
two black spots, which might pass for eyes, but are not these organs. 
The lackey caterpillar spins a cocoon in June, and the moth appears 
soon after. It has occurred principally upon the Apple, giving this 
the preference over other fruit trees, and I have also taken off the 
Apple a few examples of the bluish white spotted caterpillar of the 
figure-of-8 moth, but it has done no particular harm, though on 
the Continent it is noted as a frequent feeder upon the Peach and 
Apricot ; its increase, however, is to some extent checked by birds, 
to whom its plump form is attractive. Two of the ermines 
(Yponomeuta padella and malivorella) have disfigured the trees 
with their webs, their colonies being very numerous in some places ; 
these have attacked the Apple, Plum, and Cherry. Last year gave 
us warning that these two species were likely to be troublesome 
another season unless means were taken to diminish the spring 
brood, but in many orchards this was left undisturbed, and not only 
the leaf buds, but the fruit buds also, have been so severely 
attacked that it is likely the result will be the death of some young 
trees and the exhaustion of older trees, beside the loss of fruit. I 
have discovered some caterpillars of the brown tail (Liparis 
chrysorrhcea), and should be glad to hear from anyone who has 
noticed these during this season ; it is a species that was formerly 
very injurious, but has not troubled our orchards of late years. 
It is a caterpillar sufficiently distinct to be easily recognised, 
No. 2127.—Yol. LXXXI., Old Sebies ' 
