The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-03-04
NOBODY!

DESTROY WORMS IN WINTER.-James
Wales, of the New York police: a Central
Park Waterman is reported to have brought
to the meeting of the New York Farmers
Club number Of curious cocoons Of mill
lers, sc. As l am the person meant, and
as I was misunderstood, allow me to briefly
state my object in attending the meeting,
and what | said on that occasion. At the
request of member Of the club, brought
to the meeting cocoons and eggs of the
various insects which infested the trees,
my object in this being to show that those
creatures, though destructive and uncon-
trollable in the summer, lay exposed on the
trees, bushes, stumps, and fences all the
winter, Mt the mercy of the husband
man, and may be gathered and de-
stroyed with little labor and small
expense that tho farmer can clean
his orchard and grounds at his leisure any
time after the fall of the leaf. | pointed
out and described the working and trans
formation of what consider the most i'm
portant worms. They accompany the early
blossom, and are not only destructive in
themselves, but their bodies arc made the
repository of winged insects which kill the
fruit in the germ. One of these worms is
known as the basket worm this / called
the July spinner and spring net-Worm.
The eggs hang in small rough cone
on the outside twigs Of the trees and
bushes. 1t is sugar-loafed in shape, and
about the size of the little finger each
cone contains brood, and when Matched
spins net in the fork of q branch, and
stay together until full-grown they then,
after leaving their eggs on the leaves,
descend to the ground, and the young
spin into existence about July. The other
is called moth worm. This called the
July weaver. The eggs Of this worm are
found sticking to the branches and trunks
of trees, old stumps, walls, fences, boards,
Sc. these are easily detected on the trees
by dead leaf that invariably covers it..
A small cake Of eggs, about $50 in number,
is found fastened to o lead-colored web
cone about an inch snd quarter in length,
and the eggs are half exposed. When the
eggs ore not seen on this web, the cone con-
tains the flies above mentioned these are
generally found sticking round the trunk
of the trees and in the crevices Of fences.
In timing the Matching of these, stated
that l had closely watched their coming
ever since the spring of 1862, and had dis
covered that vegetation made but little pro-
gress on the Central Park until the March
moon had run its course, and that spring
accompanied the new April moon, and at
it's full general waking up of nature took
place, and that at this time the Matching Of
these worms took place at the first blossom
of the season.
On being asked by gentlemen present
if birds would not clean the trees Of cater
pillars, stated that there was something
in the coating of caterpillers that even the
voracious catfish would not touch, but as
soon as they donned their wings and had o
chance for their lives, every bird in the
forest was ready to devour them. | stated
that the people must not rely on birds, but
must do the work themselves, and that il
the people in the country would devote a
little of their winter leisure in gathering
them, the newspapers would cease to record
the ravsges of caterpillars.