Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-07-11
The Canker-WOrni .
THE REMEDIES FOR ITS DETERMINATION
MUST BE APPLIED IN THE AUTUMN.

THE REMEDIES FOR ITS DIFFERENTIATION
MUST BE APPLIED IN THE AUTUMN.
II is an unpleasant sight to witness the dcvas-
tation which the canker-worm has lately
been making upon many of the apple
orchards in this vicinity. To see the
thousands of thrifty young trees en-
trely stripped of their foliage, as if fire had
passed through them, is not a pleasant picture
to look upon; and which, if many fines re-
peated, will soon ruin them. There are rene
dies which can be comparatively easily applied
which will soon exterminate the pests; but
whether easily applied or not, something must
be done if the trees are to be saved
1t should be EMPHATICALLY IMPRESSED
upon the minds of those who are suffering from
the depredations of the canker worm, that the
remedies for its determination, whatever they
are MUST BE BEGUN IN THE AUTUMN, carly in
October, or it will be of little use to try to get
rid of them. Within a few weeks past l have
seen people tarring their trees, vainly endeavor-
ing to prevent and remedy the evil already COM
menced. Had they known that the eggs from
which the worms had been Matched were de-
posted on the limbs of the trees several months
previously, they would not have made the use
less effort.
In DIR. Harriss work on 'Tnsects Injurious to
Vegetation" full and interesting description
is given of the canker worm, and various RENE
dies are proposed to guard against its depreda-
tions. Iconclude this article by annexing few
paragrapbs;taken from the above named work,
commencing at page 462, with the hope that
effectual measures will be taken by all who are
interested, to exterminate this dreaded pest from
among us. C.
"It was formerly supposed that the canker-
worm moths came ont of the ground only in
the spring. 1t is now known that many of
them rise in the autumn and in the early part
of the winter. In mild and open winters have
| seen them in every month from October to
| March. They begin to make their appearance
after the first hard froSts in the autumn, usually
towards the end of October, and they continue
| to come forth, in greater or smaller numbers,
according to the mildness or severity of the
weather after the fr0Sts have begun. Their
general time OF rising is in the spring, begin
ming about the middle of March, but some
| times before, and sometimes after, this time;
| and they continue to come forth for the space of
about three weeks. 1t has been observed that
| there are more females than males among those
| that appear in the autumn and winter, and that
| the males are most abundant in the spring.
| The sluggish females instinctively make their
way towards the nearest trees, and creep slowly
| up their trunks. In few days afterwards they
are followed by the winged and active males,
which hutter about and accompany them in
| their ascent, during which the insects pair.
Soon after this, the females lay their eggs upon
| the branches of the trees, placing them on their
ends, close together in rows, forming clusters of
| from sixty to one hundred eggs or more, which
| is the number usually laid by each female The
| eggs are glued to each other, and to the bark
| by a grayish Yarnish, which is impervious to
water; and the clusters are thus securely fasten-
| ed in the forks of the small branches, or close
| to the young twigS and buds. Immediately af-
ter the insects have thus provided for a success
sion of their kind, they begin to languish, and
| soon die. The eggs are usually Matched be-
tween the first and the middle of May, or about
the time that the red currant is in blossom, and
the young leaves of the apple tree begin to
| start from the bud and grow The little canker-
worms, upon making their escape from the
| eggs, gather upon the tender leaves and on the
occurrence Of cold and wet weather, creep for
shelter into the bosom of the bud, or into the
flowers, when the latter appear.
"a very great difference of color is obServa-
| BILE among canker-worms of different ages, aud
even among those Of the same age and size 1t
| is possible that some of these variations may
arise from difference of species; but it is also
true that the same species varies much in color
When fully grown and well fed, they measure
off eating when about four weeks old, and be-
gin to quit the trees; some creep down by the
trunk, but great numbers let themselves down
| by their threads from the branches, their in
| suncts prompting them to get to the ground by
| the most direct aud easiest course When thus
| descending, and suspended in great numbers
| under the limbs of trees overhanging the road,
| they are often swept off by passing carriages
| and are thus conveyed to other places. After
reaching the ground, they Immediately bur
row in the earth, to the depth of from two to
six inches, unless prevented by weakness or
the nature of the soil. In the latter case they
die, or undergo their transformations on the
surface. In the former, they make little cav
tiles or cells in the ground, by turning round
repeatedly and fastening the loose grains of
| earth about them with few silken threads
Within twenty-four hours afterwards, they are
changed to chrysalids in their cells
1.-THE chrysalis is of light-brOwn color and
varies in size according TO the sex of the in
sect contained in it; that of the female being
the largest, and being destitute of a covering
tor wings, which is found in the chrysalis OF
| the males. The occurrence Of mild weather af-
| ter severe frost stimulates some of these in
sects to burst their chrysalis skins and come
forth in the perfected state; and this last trans
formation as before stated, may take place in
| the autumn, or in the course of the winter, as
well as in the spring; it is also retarded, in
some individuals, for year or more beyond
| the usual time. They come out of the ground
mostly in the night, when they may be seen
| struggling through the grass as far as the
| limbs extend from the body of the trees under
| which they had been buried. As the females
are destitute of wings, they are not able to
wander far from the trees upon which they have
lived in the caterpillar state. Canker-worms
are therefore naturally confined to a very limited
| space, from which they spread year after year.
Accident, however, will often carry them far
| from their native haunts, and in this way prob
/ ably, they have extended TO places remote from
each other. Where they have become estab-
| lished, and have been neglected, their ravages
| are often very great.
"1n order to protect our trees from the raw
| ages of canker-worms, where these looping
| spoilers abound, it should be our aim if posi-
| BILE, TO prevent the wingless females from as
| cendng the trees to deposit their eggs. This
can be done by the application Of tar around
tue body of the tree, either directly on the
DARK, as has been the most common practice,
OF, 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
De applied as early as the first of November
ana perhaps IN October, and it lshould be re
| neWed daily as long as the insects continue ris-
ing; after which the bands NAV be removed
and the tar should be entirely scraped from the
bark. When all this has been properly and
seasonaply oohs' II mas proved effectual. The
time. labor, and expense attending the use az
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 meth.
cd, and some to try various notifications of in
and other expedients.
Circular troughs of lead, filled with chear
ish-oil, and placed around the trees, three fee
or more above the surface of the ground, witt
a stufing of CLOTH, hay, or sea-weed between
them and the trunk, have long been used b,
various persons with good success; and tn,
only objections to them are the cost of tn