Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-05-11

ed of such importance as to beron,.
we'll Known to cultvators generallv
and II we were to enumerate oniu
those which cause the major port;o1
of losses a still smaller number would
suffice.
Thus while it would be unwise tor
erlook the hosts of lesser pests which
may be working steadily but industr.
ously, it Is one of the most important
things that the economic entomoloo;st
should make a careful and extended
study of these wholesale depredators
anu the means for counteractinp Their
injuries.
it is also Of Importance that the best
information concerning such pests
should be very carefully diss eliminated
smong the classes who are most any.
ious to get it, and in such form as to no
readily used by them. There can he
no doubt that while m UGH information
has been published concerning these
insects, the greater portion of it has
been inaccessible to most of the people
who needed it, either from appearing
loaded with technicalities which ex.
clude large class of readers, or from
being confined to reports of societies or
states and thus limited in general dis.
tribution to certain favored localities
1t must not be thought that a brief
article in single paper is intended to
meet this want, but on the ground tina,
littleis better than nothing we presume
to offer few items concerning some
of our best known insects insects that
are so well known, indeed, as to re.
quire no detailed description.
The canker norm, which is still com.
mon in some localities, is among the
first insects to require attention in the
spring. 1t is now generally conceded
that the best and cheapest remedy in
orchards is to watch for the appearance
of the young caterpillars and then
sprinkle the trees with poisoned water
by means of force pumps and sprink
lers.
In using poisoned water of course
care is necessary, but many Of the OBJ
jections brought against it are entirely
unfounded. Arsenic, for this purpose,
can be bought st wholesale for from
three to ten cents per pound. If bought
at retail prices the cost is enormo Gus.
One pound of arsenic is sufficient for
two hundred gallons of water, and as
this will thoroughly sprinkle one hun.
dred and fifty or two hundred trees of
good size, it will be seen that the pro-
cess is not expensive The arsenic
must be dissolved by boiling in mod.
crate quantity OF water after which it
can be diluted to the proper prspor.
tions by adding more water. If too
strong it will in injure the foliage as
we'll As kill the worms, but little ex.
perience will enable person to rcgu.
late it in quantity and strength SO as to
secure the desired results.
London purple is also cheap poison,
and as it can be mixed without boiling
and gives very satisfactory results, it is
preferred by some 10 arsenic. One
pound of poison is sufficient for 140 to
$50 gallons of water.
The cooling moth is another orchard
pest whose annual drain upon the ap-
pie crop is a very serious matter.
Countless remedies have been proposed
for it, but nearly always of little or no
real advantage. Hogs in the orchard,
bands OF hay, rags or paper around the
trees, while perhaps accomplishing
something, fail of their real object be-
cause they do not destroy the insect
till after the mischief is done
1t is not until recently that the dis.
covery was made that showering the
trees with poisoned water is as effectual
with them rs with the canker worm,
but the evidence concerning it has &C.
cumulated until there can be scarcely
any doubt of its efficiency. Prof. Cook,
of Michigan, advanced the idea some
thing over year ago and supported
his views with prominent cases where
the use of poisoned water for canker
worms had been followed by freedom
from the cooling moth, and the Hon.
John N. Dixon. whose experiments
and final success in the use of arsenic
for the canker worm first brought its
value prominently before the public,
states that when he used the poisoned
water his orchards have been remark
ably free from codling moth, while in
his own and neighboring orchards
where it was not used the moths were
found in their usual abundance. Mr..
Dixon also says that nearly all orchard
pests are destroyed by this means if
applied at the proper time. For the
cooling moth it should be applied in
same proportions as for canker worms.
soon after the blossoms fall, while the
fruit is very small, when the moths are
laying their eggs and the young worms
beginning to eat into the fruit.
The numerous tribe of cut-worms
makes its annual depredations without
any really practicable remedy being
discovered. Clean culture, late pillow
ing in fall, and finally the laborious
plan of digging them out by hand
where the crop is of nature to war
rant the expense, may serve to mitl-
gate the evil, but is only partial re-
lief at best.
Possibly the method of capturing
the moths known to entomologists as
"sugaring," might be used in modi-
lied form so as to serve useful pur-
pose in this direction. But | know OF
no experiments as yet which demon
strate it so that it could be recon-.
aended with any certainty.
Trans CONSISTING IF q aim Mo la M or