466 
LEPIDOPTEKA. 
In order to protect our trees from the ravages of canker- 
worms, where these looping spoilers abound, it should be our 
aim, if possible, to prevent the wingless females from ascend¬ 
ing the trees to deposit their eggs. This can be done by the 
application of tar around the body of the tree, either directly 
on the bark, as has been the most common practice, or, what 
is better, over a broad belt of clay-mortar, or on strips of old 
canvas or of strong paper, from six to twelve inches wide, 
fastened around the trunk with strings. The tar must be 
applied as early as the first of November, and perhaps in 
October, and it should be renewed daily as long as the in¬ 
sects continue rising; after which the bands may be removed, 
and the tar should be entirely scraped from the bark. When 
all this has been properly and seasonably done, it has proved 
effectual. The time, labor, and expense attending the use 
of tar, and the injury that it does to the trees when allowed 
to run and remain on the bark, have caused many persons 
to neglect this method, and some to try various modifications 
of it, and.other expedients. 
Among the modifications may be mentioned a horizontal 
and close-fitting collar of boards, fastened around the trunk, 
and smeared beneath with tar; or four boards nailed together, 
like a box without top or bottom, around the base of the tree, 
to receive the tar on the outside. These can be used to pro¬ 
tect a few choice trees in a garden, or around a house or a 
public square, but will be found too expensive to be applied 
to any great extent. Collars of tin-plate fastened around 
the trees, and sloping downwards like an inverted tunnel, 
have been proposed, upon the supposition that the moths 
would not be able to creep in an inverted position, beneath 
the smooth and sloping surface. This method will also 
prove too expensive for general adoption, even should it be 
and does not crawl up the trunk like the apterous female of Anuopteryx. Some 
persons hearing of the New England rriethod, and presuming that the insects were 
the same, adopted the plan here recommended, but of course it failed. They were 
taught better, and now squirt a decoction of tobacco-leaves on the trees, which is 
an effectual antidote, when the trees are not too high. — Morris.] 
