New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-07-21
GATHERING THE EGGS.

Each egg mass" as II IS called. contains eight
hundred eggs and potentially eight hundred leaf
devouring caterpillars. To gather In these
one OF the many tasks OF Or. Southwick and his
assistants They use seml-cireular steel brushes.
resembling currycombs and attached To the ends Of
\ long pole. With such q brush the workman
scrapes the bark OF the tree whore he the
little knob shaped punches Of eggs The steel wires
tear the eggs apart and destroy the embryo cater
pillars
When the caterplllars are matched there Is a ar
/ ferent method OF doing them 90 death. 4 timber
pole, protected at the end by a section Of rubber
hose that has been pulled over IT, is used by the
men who strike the limbs of the trees where the
! caterpars are feeding. IN" rubber protects the
bark from abrasion ana the shock sends the Gator
! pillars tumbling 20 the ground By instinct the
caterpiars on hitting the sod at once start back
for the trunk OF the for the purpose climb
! ing Il and rceuming their feast Then the
workman. instructed by Or Southwick in tho
habits OF the little creatures. waits by the trunk
! Of the tree and stamps them to death they
| come
| Another method of killing the caterpillars and at
| the same time diminishing the Gppetites OF other
Insects is the spraying Of the trees. Tho spraying
mixtures vary according to the OF tree which
| is being treated DR.. Southwick by many expert
fnents has MT upon Il series OF formula. Each Of
| these may be used on sort of tree TO XIII the
| insect life without impairing the growth Of the
! foliage. To do the spraying he has two wagons
with gGsolene pumping engines. besides five hand
machines on as many other VShicles. Ever since
the buds began To apDear on IL trees last srriny
! these spraying machlnes have been noticed at work
| about the city. TO carry the solution from the
tank strong rubber hose reinforced with linen
| lS used II Is only ODe-fOuTth of inch in dame
| ter and the stream propelled from it Is naturally
! of great force. The hose is attached to the end
! Of long pole. and workman carries II among
! the trees, spraying ever part of them The solu-
/ ton thus distributed the leaves has as its
basis either paris green. london purple suIphate
/ Of copper. DR.. Southwick each day superviscs
| the mixing of the poison and directs his men to
what sort Of trees It is to be used upon. The
entomologist is proud Of his spraying apparatus
and the power of the engines. Why" he ex-
! claimed IF had hose long enough / could keep
my engines right here and spray the trees in Yonk-
| ers. And they need it, too. from the way they
| looked the last time l up there"
Among the many enemies of the parks beauty is
the ten caterpillar. that has been observed in its
workings. by everybody who has been in the coun-
try. This Is the caterpillar that is responsible for
the binding UP Of leaves into great punches wound
together at the ends of the limbs by web of flmy
white There two sorts of tent caterpillar one
| lourishng in the spring and the other I'm the
| fall The spring variety ia about two inches long,
black, with white longitudinal stripes. The fan
web worm" as it Is sometimes called is about an
inch long and Of maltese color. BY reason Of
the web which they spin about the leaves they are
! devourng they cannot be reached by n spray, and
the clubbing OF the trees does shake them off
! since they nclosed in the snug nest they have
| constructed To get them DIR. Southwck arms his
men with long bamboo poles. The wor5men rip
out the nests with the sticks and then trample
the caterpillars TO death they fall ground
These caterpillars fond of mulberry and linden
| trees, while from cherry tree in Central Park
this spring the workmen secured twenty three
pounds Of them.
the entomologist awake nights Is the datana
! These spin webs. but they have a habit which
is their ucdoing. Several times every day they
stop eating leaves TO take nap. At such times
they gather together In great punches in the
crotches of the limbs. DR.. Southwick by long
observation has made up n schedule of the Sleep
ing hours OF the datana He instructs his men 10
loo@ for them asleep in the hardwood trees that