1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
KILLING CANKER WORMS IN CALIFORNIA. 
Fxporience With Paris-Sreen 
We had thought that we knew all about canker 
worms, but our recent experience has proved that we 
did not. Last Fall we were sure that the regulation 
16 -mesh moth traps, properly put on, would prevent 
the female moths from ascending the trees. Now we 
know that the traps are a delusion and a snare, not 
to the moths but to us. We had 200 acres of fruit 
trees properly fitted with moth traps, and carefully 
examined in November to see that they were in place, 
and no holes where a moth could squeeze through, 
but in spite of our care we found eggs in the trees, 
saw the moths lay them, and have just finished the 
battle with more worms than we had last year. We 
now know better than to pin our faith to moth traps. 
To kill the worms before they ruined the trees we 
used shovels and poles and molasses and tar prin¬ 
cipally, but have experimented with spraying with 
Paris-green, and pi’oven that the regulation dose of 
one pound of green to 200 gallons of water will not 
make ottr worms sick perceptibly. After trying a 
number of mixtures or ways of mixing the Paris- 
green we have found that three pounds of green to 
200 gallons will stop them from eating, and they soon 
die. This is rank heresy from the standpoint of the 
experiment stations, and should burn the leaves dis¬ 
astrously. We have used some lime with the green 
part of the time but can see no diffei-ence when it is 
left out. The Paris-green that we use is supposed to 
be pure, but we have used three brands and see no 
difference in results. We are using Paris-green in 
the same proportion on apple trees for Codling moth. 
April 29 we had finished our fight with the canker 
worms, and now believe that spraying is the most 
effectual as well as the cheapest way to 
dispose of them. The three different 
brands of Paris-green we used, each one 
said to be pure, varied in price from 22i/^ 
cents to 35 cents per pound. We are sure 
of one thing, and that is, that the usua' 
recipe of one pound to 200 gallons o’ 
water is a useless mixture for canke.’ 
worms. After experimenting we finally 
settled on three pounds to 200 gallons as 
sufficiently strong to kill the worms, and 
so sprayed all the prune trees at that 
strength, and also gave the apple and 
pear trees their first dose without chang¬ 
ing the mixture. The addition of limj 
seemed to make no difference, for when 
put on without any lime no leaves we:e 
burnt. If canker worms come again next 
year we shall try to spray the entire or¬ 
chard as quickly as possible after they be¬ 
gin to hatch, and then a second time im¬ 
mediately, as it will take a week or 10 
days to spray 200 acres of trees. We have 
proven to our satisfaction that the ordi¬ 
nary 16-mesh wire moth trap will not 
keep down enough moths to make any 
marked difference in the crop of worms. 
A neighbor, however, seemed to be suc¬ 
cessful by putting printer’s ink on the traps. The ink, 
by filling the meshes of the trap and some of it run¬ 
ning through, remained moist on the under side, and 
thus caught all moths that touched it. I will say that 
in spraying almost any good force pump with a fair¬ 
sized air chamber may be rigged up for use, although 
the regular spray pumps are somewhat better in that 
the extra-large air chamber permits the man who 
pumps to attend to driving and keeping the mixture 
well stirred without reducing the force of the spray. 
At Fig. 148 is shown the trunk of a Black Tartarian 
cherry tree; it shows how many of our fruit trees are 
allowed to grow. We find with most fruit trees that 
it is better to allow the branches to begin near the 
ground. From one to two feet of trunk is ample for 
most trees. Branches coming out so near the ground 
spread more gradually and make a strong support for 
a large top without being in the way of the horses 
while cultivating the orchard. The first orchard that 
I had to work in contained a lot of apple trees with 
heads from four to six feet from the ground, which 
resulted in a tendency oi the branches to grow out 
horizontally, and getting lower each year at the ends, 
they soon had to be cut off. This cherry tree is our 
largest tree. It spreads over 30 feet and is probaoly 
35 feet high. It bears large crops of fine cherries. 
California. n. G. kkesling. 
lit 
3 
■' ill 
■ 
GUERNSEY COW AURICULA II., No. 12209. Fie. 149. See Page 383. 
An Orchaud Scheme.— Regarding the distance apart for 
apple trees, 1 have a pet plan that I would like to see 
tested, which is based upon the sun’s daily course. Wide 
apart rows north and south, say 50 feet apart, would allow 
the sun both early and late access. Then the trees could 
be closer than usual in the rows, perhaps 20 feet for large 
trees. At the time of day when the row shades itself, so 
to speak, the noonday sun is so high as to shine down 
into the trees. Certain advantages in this plan will sug¬ 
gest themselves. Has it ever been acted upon? 
F, W. PROCTOR. 
!>• IN,-y,—Have readers ever tried it? 
PARASITES OF TENT CATERPILLARS. 
I had noticed the Forest tent-caterpillar for several 
years, but it did no particular damage till 1899. The 
Winter of 1899-1900 the trees were literally full of egg 
clusters which hatched, but just here, about the time 
when they should have been doing the most damage, 
they seemed to go crazy, and there was not one cocoon 
where in 1899 there were probably 50. In making exami¬ 
nation of the cocoons I found some all right, some with 
a small white ant-like creature, which grew and became 
a waspish-looking fly nearly an inch in length as it 
came out of the pupa of the Forest worm. Others had 
a large maggot, some one to three small maggots. These 
emerged from the Forest worm pupaj, and went into pupa 
stage and then into a fly from size of house fly up. 
Others were filled with a large number of small maggots, 
but I think I got none of these in my collection. I 
never saw any of the waspish-looking creatures except 
those I hatched; I looked wherever I went, and there 
must have been a great many, as at least one-third of 
my collection of cocoons hatched such. The fly, whicli 
was about in equal numbers, was everywhere, especially 
around potatoes, and as the bug did not trouble (the 
slugs disappearing without doing damage), I surmised 
they were working on them. It is almost impossible to 
find a cluster of eggs on the trees now. ii. J. r. 
Springwater, N. Y. 
The tent-caterpillars, both the apple and the forest 
or maple species, have many natural enemies, and 
were it not so, their ravages would continue until the 
maple sugar bush would be a thing of the past in 
many localities: for it is often impracticable to check 
the pest by artificial means in a forest, and man must 
there depend upon Nature’s methods of reducing the 
numbers of the insect. Weather conditions, especial¬ 
ly extremes or sudden changes, kill many of the cater¬ 
pillars. The birds get many of them, and a bacterial 
disease sometimes sweeps them off by the thousands. 
Several kinds of predaceous insects eat the caterpil¬ 
lars, but more are destroyed by parasitic insects. 
Among these parasiies there are several kinds of 
flies, usually somewhat larger than a house fly. These 
flies stick their eggs on to the skin of a half or two- 
thirds grown caterpillar, and the maggots, which 
hatch therefrom work their way into the interior of 
their host, where they get their growth on the fats 
and juices which the poor caterpillar elaborates from 
the leaves it eats. As the maggots avoid eating the 
ICHNEUMON FLY DEPOSITING EGGS IN COCOON. FlO. 150. 
vital organs of their host, it grows and finally spins 
a cocoon about itself, but rarely is there enough left 
of the caterpillar to make up the moth into which it 
was destined to transform; so that there emerges 
from the cocoon one or more of these Tachina flies 
or parasites instead of a moth. Again, thousands of 
the caterpillars escape the jaws of their enemies and 
get into apparently safe quarters inside their silken 
cocoon, but alas, they are far from safe there. For 
there are two or three kinds of Ichneumon flies whose 
maggots fin4 tbe caterpillar or pupa ip tii§ cocoon a 
371 
dainty morsel. “It is very interesting to watch one 
of the Pimplas or Ichneumon flies when placing her 
eggs in the cocoons,’’ says Perkins. “She is so intent 
upon her task that one has no difficulty in observing 
her closely. She is quite brisk even to nervousness 
in her movements, flying quickly from one cocoon to 
another, hastily, but sharply, inspecting each. If the 
caterpillar inside has not finished spinning and its last 
moult she does not leave an egg, but flies off to tue 
next cocoon. If the cocoon is done and the pupa is 
formed, she then places herself over one end, and 
strongly arching the abdomen thrusts her ovipositor 
into the pupa. See this act in Fig. 150. Then by two 
or three successive thrusts she works the egg deeply 
into the unfortunate victim, withdraws the ovipositor 
and flies away. Sometimes she will examine and leave 
several cocoons before she finds one that she con¬ 
siders a fit place for an egg, but often the eggs are 
deposited rapidly. I have seen five cocoons thus para¬ 
sitized in less than as many minutes. In rare in¬ 
stances both moth and parasite come from the same 
cocoon, both apparently well developed.” 
We confidently expect that these little enemies, to¬ 
gether with climatic conditions and other natural 
checks, will soon get the upper hand, so to speak, and 
relegate the “Maple worm” into the background as a 
serious pest for many years to come. The “up” or 
destructive period with tent-caterpillars usually lasts 
several years, but their enemies also often keep them 
“down” for a longer period. If all were as observant 
of Nature’s ways as R. J. R., how much more infor¬ 
mation and intellectual enjoyment could be got out 
of life. M. V. SLINGEKLAND. 
A WINDMILL SCARECROW. 
The only effectual scarecrow I ever found is a wind¬ 
mill. I formerly made them to jingle a bell as they 
turned but later found that their motion 
alone is just as effective. I take two 
pieces of pine two inches square and 
about two feet long. These are first bal¬ 
anced on a knife-edge to get their center 
of gravity. Make a side mortise ki each, 
cutting half through, tack them together 
at right angle, and we have the four 
arms. Bore a hole for the axis and insert 
an iron box, or else tack a washer on each 
side to prevent wear. The floats are the 
sides of quart tomato cans, unsoldered in 
the fire, rolled out flat and tacked to the 
arms, which have previously been beveled 
by taking off corresponding corners. An¬ 
other strip of two-inch stuff about three 
feet long is required, a piece of tin or a 
shingle is tacked to one end for a vane, a 
hole is bored longitudinally in the other 
end to receive a bolt, which is then driven 
in with the wheel upon it. After being 
thus mounted the center of gravity is 
found, a hole bored through the stick at 
this point, anu the whole mounted upon 
a stout pole set in the ground, using a bolt 
for a spindle to allow the vane to turn 
in the wind. Such a contrivance has 
never failed with me to prevent, or to 
interrupt the work of crows even where they have 
commenced their depredations. f. w. p. 
A Vermont Apple Crop. 
Prof. F. A. Waugh, of the Vermont Station, wrote to the 
Burlington Free Press an account of a profitable apple 
orchard owned by Mrs. Lura E. Allen, on South Hero 
Island in Lake Champlain. Last year this orchard of 14 
acres gave a net profit of $100 per acre. This year the 
returns, according to Prof. Waugh, were as follows: 
No barrels sold in New York. 903 
(Iross receipts .■.■.■.■.$2,785.75 
Average price by the barrel. 3 08 
Commission, freights, cartage, etc. 52161 
Net cash returns. 2,264!l4 
Additional fruit sold at home. ’sooioo 
Total cash returns. 2 564 14 
Average by the acre, 14 acres.’ 183 08 
No wonder Prof. Waugh asks which was the “off” year 
in this orchard! Right in the neighborhood of this orchard 
last Fall some apples were worth only 75 cents a barrel, 
but those sold by Mrs. Allen brought, in a few cases, as 
high as $6 and $7. Prof. Waugh well says: “Farming 
which pays $183 an aci'e, cash in the bank, is evidently 
successful; and Mrs. Allen ought to be publicly thanked 
for the benefit of her good example.” 
DRILLING CLOVER SEED.—I have been interested in 
the discussions of how to treat the grain fields in the 
Spring so as to insure a catch of grass. I have always 
sow'n the seed early, when the earth was cracked by the 
frost, but there has not been such a time this Spring, 
and then the rains came and the ground seemed to be 
so hard that I thought it useless to sow the seed. I felt 
afraid of the harrow; the weeder wouldn’t touch the 
ground, but to-day I solved the problem. I was going 
to the field to sow oats with my Buckeye grain drill 
when it occurred to me that it would be just the thing to 
go over the wheat with It to loosen the ground, the hoes 
running just between the drills of grain and sowing the 
grass seed at the same time. I have tried it, and a 
more complete job you never saw. I don’t think it pulls 
up one stool of wheat or a bit of young Timothy, the 
latter being mostly among the wheat in the drills. 
PlRinfield, N. J. w, ii, p, 
