Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-06-24
INEXPENSIVE TREATMENT
To DESTROY TENT CATER
PILLAR AND BROWN TAIL

A very effective and inexpensive
treatment for the tent catapillars and
the brown-tail moths is recommended
as follows:
A few drops of gasoline applied to
the nest, or few drops of kerosene
and creosote to a pint of kerosene.
The man who made this discovery
says
1T can be applied very easily. 1
have a long nosed oil can attached to
a long pole, and merely reach up and
pour a few drops of the mixture on
the nest and the work is done. To
make il perfectly sure l tear the WEB
or tent with the nose of the oil can
before applying the oil.
The beauty of this treatment is
that it absolutely will not harm any
fruit tree. The worms absorb the oil
like a sponge and merely curl up and
die.
4 found that one application is quite
sufficient but / have kept a close watch
ON my trees in case 1 might have miss
ed nest on the first trip.
This is the time to do the work. Do
it right now, though it is best when
the worms are just Matched and have
retreated to their tents and as yet not
done the trees any damage.
by atfiXing the oil can to a long
pole one can reach practically every
nest in tree as the tent worm seldom
builds higher than one can reach with
an ordinarily long pole.
This treatment is also excellent for
killing brown tail moths. / have found
that on cold, raw and windy days the
brown tails do not feed, but bunch
up on the limbs of the trees in huge
balls not unlike bees when preparing
to hive.
Lest year 1 found them several
times and applied the mixture and
hundreds upon hundreds were killed
by me in this manner.
Il think this treatment will prove
the salvation of our fruit trees and If
anyone can profit by my experiments
l shall be glad of the service l have
rendered
Il have tried all the other devices
known, and have found none of them
effective except for a brief period. The
spraying of the trees is quite ineffectu-
al unless one keeps at it continually.
A tree may be sprayed today and the
nests apparently destroyed, but within
day or two one will find new worms
Matched and doing business"
This treatment the discoverer has
absolutely proven will entirely elimi-
nate the pests. But little attention is
necessary to the Matching nests al
though it is considered advisable to
give these an application of the oil
whenever found and thus make per-
fectly sure that no more worms will
hatch from the nest.
It has very great advantage over
the spraying method as 1t has been alb
solutely proven it is impossible to rid
the trees of an orchard of the pest by
spraying unless one keeps continually
at the spraying.
BY the newly discovered treatment
one hour a day for period of week
will absolutely rid any ordinary sized
orchard of the worms, and administer
ed at this time of the year practically
one treatment is sufficient for the sea-
son. as the worms are killed and furth-
err propagation is impossible.
The burning of the nests which has
been generally accepted as the most
effective is little better than the
spraying. The tent worm builds his
nest in such a manner that the flames
from torch are very liable to miss
the web and do more harm to the
limbs of the tree by burning than good
is accomplished.