2 
APPLE. 
It therefore seemed very likely that smearing the trunks of the 
trees which had been yearly infested, with some sticky composition, 
which would catch the moths and hold them fast on their upward 
journey, could not fail to be of use; and Mr. Charman accordingly 
began trying this plan in November, 1883, at the time when the female 
Winter Moths first come from their chrysalids in the ground beneath 
the infested trees. 
On November 10th he mentioned that he had used Davidson’s 
composition, and found it stuck fast everything that touched it, and 
he had already found a quantity of wingless female moths sticking in 
the composition at the base of the trees. 
On December 11th Mr. Charman reported he had caught upwards 
of 500 of the females, and the attempt at progress up the trees was 
still going on. The method of application was to paint the stem 
round for the breadth of one or two feet with a band of Davidson’s 
composition, and go round sometimes (in a morning or occasionally) 
and scrape off the moths which had been caught. As these moths lay 
a large number of eggs, the destruction of each female materially 
lessens the number of caterpillars. 
The above first half of the experiment was noted in my Report for 
1883, but its full success could not be seen until the following May or 
early summer, when the “looper” caterpillars from the winter eggs 
appear. These caterpillars had been noted as being in such numbers 
on the attacked trees for the previous two or three years that blossom 
and leaves had both been destroyed; but the above method of stopping 
the moths from getting at the boughs proved highly successful in pre¬ 
venting the mischief happening again. 
Mr. Charman reported this year (1884) that, “ with reference to 
the Winter Moth, the fruit trees treated with Davidson’s composition 
were free from attack, with few exceptions. I found a few caterpillars 
on several trees, but not in sufficient numbers to cause any annoyance. 
I account for their presence from the fact of there being a belt 
of deciduous trees immediately outside the garden wall, which were 
badly infested with Winter Moths ; and I think the moths may have 
been blown from these on to the fruit trees, and thus escaped the 
composition. 
“ I have again painted the stems of all the fruit trees previous to 
the 1st of November (date of letter Nov. 21st), and I have found a few 
moths attached to the composition. I may say I do not find the com¬ 
position at all injurious to the trees.” 
The above method of treatment is well worth consideration to save 
attack in fruit orchards where the green “ looper ” caterpillars are at 
times (and not at all unfrequently) utterly destructive to the young 
leaves, blossoms, and all, in fact, that they can eat; and, as these 
