Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-05-14
The Canker Worm.

the appearance or which IL just now
filing the minds OF orchard owners
with anxiety, attacked the fruit trees
on the Adam Diller place. Since
then the pest has been reported as
doing considerable damage in several
other localities, Mr.. Diller tried all
the remedies he could hear OF, includ-
ing spraying the trees with a power
full solution OF Paris green and Lon
don purple being resolved that il he
couldn't have any fruit the worms
couldn't either, but it was all to no
purpose His trees were stripped
clean.
The chronological office at the
Manhattan agricultural college, says
a writer in the Mercury, is receiving
numerous inquiries in regard to the
spring csnker worm, Paleacrita Yer.
adta, which seems to be present in
great numbers in many orchards in
the immediate vicinity OF Manhattan,
and the attention OF orchardists should
be called to. the destruction Of this
pest wherever 1t is found to be pre-
sent. 1t usually will be found attack
ing the foliage Of apple trees, but it
is also the enemy Of the elm, plum,
cherry, peach, apricot, and perhaps
other trees, In some of the orchards
examined the trees are already COM
pletely stripped Of their leaves, the
defoliated trees looking as il fire
had swept through them, In others
the trouble is of a local nature, be-
ing confined to a portion only of the
orchard.
The eggs Of the moth which have
produced this worm were laid early
this spring. They are small and
white, and are laid in clusters under
the scales Of the bark or in the ere.
vices. The worm, which is dark olive
green or brown, issues from the egg
just es the first leaves are opening,
and is now rapidly devouring the fol-
isge. They will remain upon the
trees until full grown which will
probably be in May, though some
times as late as June, when they will
descend to the ground, entering it,
and at a depth Of from two to six In
ches form tough cocoon where they
spend the summer and usually the
winter, though few hatch in the fall
instead of the spring as the greater
number do. The male is ash colored
or brownlsh gray in color, the wings
marked with brown lines and q whit
ish band. The female has no wings
and on this account the attacks of
this species are not so wide spread as
those Of other insects which are able
to fly from tree to tree, and if meas
ures are taken in time they may be
almost entirely destroyed.
Remedies for the attacks Of this
canker worm are Of two kinds, and
might be classed under the heads
preventive and destructive. To pre-
vent the attacks OF the worm all meth
DDS will be useful which will prevent
the emergence of the moth from it's
crhysalis, or hinder the wingless fe-
male from crawling up the tree to lay
it's eggs, or which will prevent the
worms which may hatch near the tree
from reaching the leaves, This they
can accomplish only bv crawling up
the trunks of the tree, and the appli-
cation in the fall Of any substance Of
sticky nature, such as raupenlin,
dendrolene, preparations Of petrole-
um) tar or molasses, which will in
tercept the moth or worm are useful.
These however must be freshly sppli-
ed constantly through the fall and
winter until after the worms have
Matched, when, failing to reach a
proper food, they will perish. Traps
about the trunk of tree are also used,
and the scraping off of the rough
scales of bark IS advantageous.
Late summer and fall blowing is
recommended to destroy the chryss-
lis, and hogs turned into the orchard
will root up and destroy many of
these. But the remedy best suited to
the present need, since the worms are
already seriously defolisting the trees
is the spraying with London purple
or Paris green. A good formula for
general use is one-fourth OF q pound
Of Paris green and an equal amount
of ouick lime (unslacked) TO fftv