Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1871-01-06

The Canker worm.
The following communication
from well known fruit grower in
this region, was crowded out of the
proceedings of the Institute, last
week:
Capt. Spear-Dedr Sir:
TO fulfill my promise, will give
a short history Of my experience
with canker worm:
In the spring Of 1867, I obtained
possession of the Spring Creek Orch
ard, containing about 1000 trees, and
in June of that year, l found an es-
tablished colony of the canker worm,
strong enough to devour every leaf
and apple in the orchard in six days,
but having had no experience with
that worm. all my efforts to abate
their ravages were in vain, and from
that time to the spring of 1868, i col
lected information from books and
from men of experience, Of which
awaited me nothing, for with all my
efforts, they swept the orchard again,
about the same as they did the year
before. BY this time experience had
taught me enough of their habits to
enable me to war against them sue
cessfully.
The female canker worm is a wing
less insect of brown color, about
sic Of an inch long, and resembles a
'gray-backn in form and motion.
The male Is a miller or moth, re-
sembling the Goblin moth, except
that tits larger and has dark spot
inthe center of each wing. This
description applies to them when
they come from the ground in the
spring. The eggs are of silver color
and about the size of caterpillar's
egg. .e .- .....r
The destructive worm Is about 10
of an inch long. 1t is of a dark
brown color, and travels by spans,
like what is Familiarity known as the
measuring worm. The chrysalis as
ii exists through the winter, is about
SIG of an inch long, of a brownish
yellow color, and of tho form of the
chrysalis of most other insects. s
The canker worm immerges from
the ground as soon IA the frost is out
In the spring. II comes forth at the
approach of night, and he who stud
les its habits at this time must do it,
lantern in hand, between dusk and
day-break. The female approaches
the tree slowly, and for the first four
or five nights does not ascend the
tree more than two feet, but after
that, she goes higher, and If she
ascends too slow, the male will take
her up and fly with her to location
of his own choice, and in such cases
she sometimes does not reach the
ground by daylight. and only in
such cases is she to be found above
ground in the daylight for the first
eight days after she has thrown oil
her cbrysalis shell. AL this time the
male disappears aud you may find
his wings scattered under the tree
of the bark, but how the wings and
body are separated | have never been
able to discover, but have never
found one dead with his wings on.
The female deposits her eggs under
the scales of rough bark on the body
OF the tree, at the juncture of the
large limbs, and in the folds made by
the leaf roller. Each female lays
about one hundred eggs resembling
minute silver studs, and which she
CLUES In clusters TO the bark. About
six daysfrom the time the males dis
appear the female has finished lay
ing and goes to the top of a limb and
dies.
The egg remains on the tree lin
ordinary weather) about eight days,
when the worm burst from its shell
and goes at once to the tenderest
foliage Of the tree and there and
then commences its work of destruc-
ton. 1t lives as worm about %
days, when it returns to the ground,
where ii buries itself for it's long
sleep as chrysalis, that lasts till the
return of spring. .....
You, as well as everyone who has
made fruit growing a study, are
familiar with the various traps in
vented to catch the female as she as
cends the tree, from the patent lead
trough to the simple strip of tared
paper, and can testify from expert
ence, that all are good If a man has
few trees only, but IL he has trees
by the thousand they are all objec-
tionable to say the least of them.
My remedy is to watch until the
eggs are all laid, then employ help
enough to scrape off all the rough
bark and with it the eggs, and bury
them by throwing a few spadefulls
of dirt round the roots of the tree
where they have fallen. After
have scraped the tree smooth, j
white-wash with lime to destroy any
that may have been missed.
Yours, truly, @"t