Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-04-20
CHASE & SANBORNS COFFEES.

streets to band the trees with a prepare
ton of tar and other things, the object be-
ing to prevent the caterpillars which had
dropped or crawled down from being able
to crawl up or feed and to prevent such as
were in the tree tops from crawling down
to seek new food supply. The object was
gained. After the banding the ground was
covered with caterpillars of all szes-for
all do not hatch at once, and assorted sizes
may be found at almost any time in the
month of June. The grass swarmed with
them, and on looking down at it the OBJ
server was usually nauseated by what
seemed to be its heaving motion, caused
by the ceaseless crawling
Then the women and few men took
the matter in hand, and before almost ev-
cry house might be seen one or more, usu-
ally gloved, with pail or pan in one hand
and brush or stick in the other, busily
engaged in scraping the caterpillars from
trees, fences and houses, into the shallow
layer of kerosene in the bottom of the pan
or pail. The results of the days labor
we've told almost with bated breath. A 10.
quart pail was the unit of measure.
"Unable to ascend the trees, the cater
pillars lay in dense masses around the
trunks below the bands. Often these
masses were two or three feet wide, and
the caterpillars were in close rows, some
times even one row on top of another. on
horse blocks and the foundations of houses,
on posts and fences they swarmed in equal
ly dense mats, and when, on being disturb
ed, they reared their heads and waved
them from side TO side, a sickening chill
seized upon the average beholder. Even
the entomologist felt that there were too
many of them.
"Out of town, where little or nothing
was done to destroy them, the caterpillars
stripped the trees so that whole hillsides
were bare and brown. In some places
where they had begun life on an isolated
grove, a sugar bush for instance, the
food supply was exhausted before the cat
erpillars were full grown, and then they
crawled down the trees and across the
fields until they found other trees or died
| in the attempt"
Miss Soule then goes on to tell how the
birds helped in the fight, both by eating the
l full grown caterpillars and especially by
destroying thei cocoons, eggs and larve.
But in spite of this there were plenty left
to spin their cocoons and every available
place was literally fringed and covered
with the sulphur-colored ovoids. These
were attacked and chased off. The egg.
rings were removed from the twigs where
they could be easily reached, and many
were eaten by chickadees and nuthatche'
in the winter, but in spite of this the fol
lowing May found the caterpillars Matching
in even greater numbers than before
Each pair of moths produces at least zoe
eggs, and often many more.
This year many persons followed The
advice of DR.. c. NJ. Weed, state entomolo-
gist of New Hampshire, and treated theil
trees with the arsenate of lead spray dis
covered by the gypsy moth committee Of
Massachusetts, and prepared by thei
formula This proved very effacious ant
killed thousands of young larve, withou
injury to the trees.
There is a parasite which attacks tn
caterpillars in their later stages, and thi
is probably the most efficient means
their destruction. The discomfort cause,
by the plague is by no means its wors