The Yale expositor., 1895-11-22
Canker WOrrl.

the other the fall canker worm. The fe-
males of both species are entirely desti-
tute of wings, and resemble each other
30 closely that unless careful examina-
ton be made, one might suppose them
to be the same. The spring canker
worm is the more common. Early In
the spring. as soon as the snow Is clear
from the ground, or even before, the
perfect moths emerge from under the
ground where they passed the winter
in the pupa state, and the wingless fe-
males crawl up the trunks of the trees,
while the males fly about and pair with
them on the trunks or branches, after
which the eggs are laid in clusters in
the crevices of the bark, without any
regularity or order in their arrange
ment, sometimes to the number OF a
hundred.
They next descend to the ground and
burrow to the depth of three inches or
more, when they spin a fragile cocoon
OF dull yellowish silk, within which
they transform to pupae, and remain In
this state until the following spring,
when the moths emerge. ascend the
generation. Some Of the individuals,
however. emerge in the fall and lay
their eggs, but these do not hatch till
the following spring. The wingless fe-
male Is Of pale ash color. and the
male is Of the same color, with a pale
broken band across the fore wings,
near the outer margin, and three inter
rupted brownish lines between that and
the base. The hind wings are of very
pale ash color or very light gray, with
a banker dot near the middle.
The fall canker worm energies from
the ground late in the fall, after the
leaves have fallen from the trees and
the frosts have destroyed all the ten
der plants. The females climb the trees
attended by the males, who hover
around on the wing. After the mating
of the moths the females lay their eggs
side by side, in regular masses. often
as many as 100 together, in an exposed
situation on the twigs or branches OF
the trees. Sometimes the females.
through mistake, crawl up the side of
building and deposit their cluster OF
eggs on the exposed surface.
After they have done feeding they de-
scend from the trees and burrow into
the ground, where they pass their
| transformations, and the moths emerge
late in the fall The female of this
species is wingless, about three-tenths
of an inch long, and of pale gray or
ash color. The males have we'll devel-
oped wings, which expand nearly an
inch and half, and are of the same
color as the female. The fore wings
have two rather irregular whitish
bands across them, and the hind wings
have blackish dot on the middle and
a more or less distinct whitish band
outside of it.
AS the females are wingless and pass
their transformations underground, and
are obliged to crawl up the trunks OF
the trees to deposit their eggs, one pre-
caution is to prevent their ascent by
putting bands Of heavy paper around
the trunks, painting them with some
sticky preparation, as printers ink, OF
tar softened with oil.
Another method is to put a trap oil
zinc or tin around the trunks of the
trees, over which they cannot pass
Care must be taken that the trap or pa,
per fits tightly to the tree, that neither
the female moth nor the newly Matched
larvae can find passage beneath. Still
another remedy is to shower the trees
with paris green in water about tn,
time the eggs have Matched in tn,
spring.
Potato Scab.-Dr. Byron Halsted, o.
the New Jersey experiment station, 1!
one Of the most careful observers an(
workers. The Rural New Yorker
gives the following note in regard L
some of his recent work: Dr. HalsteC
of New Jersey had a very interesting
exhibit of potatoes at the Trenton
fair. The object was to show the eff
feet of flowers of sulphur in checkin|
or reducing potato scab. The results
were striking. Where the seed wal
rolled in sulphur, and a quantity O.
the substance was scattered in tn,
drills, the potatoes were remarkably
free and clean. Where sulphur wal
not used they were badly scabbsd. DR.
Halsted obtained much the same re
suits with sulphur in preventin,
sweet potato rot. The r. N. Y. tried
sulphur carefully years ago and founC
} that it largely prevented scab and KEEP
wire worms in check.
The Corn Crib.-A corn crib shoult
be rooted and sided on the north an,
west sides, If exposed, as tightly as
, crib for small grain. This Is true, be
, cause leakage Injuries ear corn as wei
} as small grain though the damage b.
: not so great. 1t is true, because driv
: ing storms will force snow nearly to tn
center of the crib, and then when melt
ing causes more or less damage. It 4
easy to reduce the selling price or feed
ing value of corn two cents the bushel
and two cents the bushel is the who'll
cost of cribbing corn, saying nothing
about the use of the cribs in subse
quent years.-Rural Life.
Too Cheap Potatoes.-A commercial
friend living in Ames, Iowa, report
t that at HoIstefn and other points IL
, North Iowa he found the people LOADING
potatoes on the cars at cents pc
. bushel This is a ruinous price. The.
Il e.. g. e. n