New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-03-01
BUGS AND TREES.
DIR. PosceU Tells Gropers Ho7c to
Erterminate Injurious insects.

The United States loses 500. 100000 annually
through the ravages Of insects" said George T.
! Powell president of the Agricultural Experts
Association. at the American Institute No. 10
West 44th-st, yesterday afternoon.
Mr.. Powell was scheduled TO talk about "In-
sects Injurious to Vegetation" and his remarks
were of a most depressing nature. He took up
the tent caterpillar. the Goblin moth, the plum
curculo and the San Jose scale and other scales,
and drew gloomy pictures of the devastatons
they are causing and the worse devastation they
will probably continue to cause and then closed
with the cheerful statement that the gypsy and
browntail moths, which he had not had time to
touch. were worse than any OF the others. But
a few grains of comfort he did distribute how
ever. for some of the pests yield to Intelligent
treatment
There are three ways of handling the tent
caterpillar, the loathsome creature that wanders
off the apple trees in spring and gets into peo-
pies drawing rooms and onto their gowns One
way is to get small boys to gather the eggs
THE egg nests of the tent caterpillar may be
SEEM" said Mr. Powell. I'm the form of hard
shining balls on the smaller twigs of fruit
trees. In each Of these nests there are two or
three hundred eggs. vanished over with sub
stance that protects them securely against heat
cold, rain and snow. Now get some small boys
and offer them a cent apiece for these balls and
how many they will gather. have known
a boy TO make 81 day gathering these nests
also give my bounty for gathering them
when they pruning"
The caterpillars that escape this method of
destruction can be attacked in their tents, which
they form in the crotches Of trees. They al
ways go into their tents at night and In stormy
weather, and they don't come out In the morning
till the sun is well up-that u.s. not until or 9
o'clock. They very luxurious insects it
seems. and II the fruit grower is enterprising
man the fate Of the suggard overtakes them.
EARLY In the morning." said Mr.. Powell. 81
have my men go through the orchard with poles
having a little bulb Of woolen cloth at the ends.
They insert these bulbs into the openings of the
tents. which are found at the bottom and then
turn the pole round and round. The web sticks
10 the woollen cloth and the whole tent is gath
cred up. caterpillars and all, and not the slight
est injury is done TO the tree"
The cat liars that escape these two methods
Of destruction are treated by spraying with
arsenate Of lead a pound and half to forty
gallons of water
This is better than paris green" said Mr..
Powell, because 1t adheres 20 the foliage even
through rain. 1t is also better than paris green
for every purpose for which the latter is used.
moth and the bud moth"
Mr.. Powell then proceeded to the cooling moth
beautiful creature never seen by any one but
entomologists because Il flies at night This
lovely insect deposits her eggs the outside of
the young apple, one each apple and she lays
fifty Of them. In few days the egg matches
and the larva crawls to the calyx, where, If all
goes we'll, II penetrates TO the interior. But here
nature comes 70 the rescue OF the harassed fruit
grower, and the larva, If the grower is enter
prising. meets its Waterloo
1.-THE calyx points upward 70 the sky" said
Mr.. Powell. land when the larva enters It Just
as the blossom falls and the fruit sets II is
still open This is the time to spray. The spray
settles in the calyx and the first nibble finishes
the cooling moth"
To prove the efficacy OF this treatment, Mr..
Powell mentioned that while 70 per cent of all
the apples IN the State were ruined by the cooling
moth last year the fruit his own place was
abundant and beautiful.
The plum curcuo, frightful and ferocious
but hardly visible in its natural state. was the
next insect on the list. The curculio is not only
ferocious but clever. 1t cuts little crescent
shaped Sits in plums, cherries. etc, and inserts
its egg in them, but II wants the farva TO get
out IL is Matched. and so II carefully
pastes back the skin after making the cut so
that the wound cannot heal. The effect OF its
attentions is TO the fruit to fall to the
ground within a few days after setting.
Bordeaux mixture is the proper thing for this
little Turk said the lecturer. but be 10
get IT soon as the blossoms fall an6 he
sure to mix it properly Put four pounds of sui
phate of copper in twenty-five gallons OF water.
Then Stake four pounds Of ouicklime and put il
I'm another twenty-five gallons Of water. Final
~, mix the two mixtures together. A great deal
OF Bordeaux mixture is useless because the sui
phate OF copper and the uuicklime dissolved
and the solution combined in small quantities of
water. II is better too. If the two solutions
poured together into common receptacle in
stead being