TREE INSECTS AND THEIR CONTROL 195 
cautions are taken to protect the operator’s face and 
hands. The use of the brush obviates the injury to paint 
on nearby buildings that might be caused by spraying. 
Tree Bands. —The use of tree bands as barriers 
or traps for insects has occasional value, but they are not as 
effectual as many people seem to believe. The usefulness 
of bands is confined to protection against those insects 
which crawl along the trunk. Against the winged insects 
they have no value whatever. To be useful at all the bands 
must be closely watched and kept from clogging, drying 
out or becoming bridged. They are likely to be injurious 
to the trees. 
A type of banding which proves effective is made of 
cotton batting, 6 to 8 inches wide, wrapped around the 
tree with the ends overlapping, and tied securely and 
snugly by means of a string around its lower edge, with the 
upper part turned down over the string to form a flange of 
loose cotton. This stops the insects as they crawl upward. 
The cotton must be kept in fluffy condition. 
The wingless moths, such as those of the cankerworm, 
and the tussock moth, may be trapped by 12 mesh fly- 
screen. A strip of the wire screen 12 inches wide should 
be cut with a top length slightly greater than needed to fit 
around the tree and a bottom length 6 inches greater. The 
top edge should be snugly fitted around the tree and 
fastened with carpet tacks, leaving the lower part standing 
out in a way suggesting an inverted funnel. The spread¬ 
ing lower edge admits crawling insects, and these should 
be gathered and crushed daily, to prevent the laying of 
any eggs. 
Sticky bands are useful against the ascent of cater¬ 
pillars and wingless moths. The sticky material may be 
bought ready for use. In preparing to apply it, the tree 
should first be encircled with a 2 inch strip of cotton, 
