The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-29
CON ROL OF THE
 TENT CkTERPIL- AR
Arsen.icals Most Effective Remedy Against This
 Pest.

Washington, April 2S-'The con- spicuous, unsightly nests or tents of the appie-tree tent caterpillar are fa- miliar objects in the spring in trees along the roadways. streams and fenc- les. in neglected orchards. and else where. several methods of checking the depredations of this caterpillar are given in a. new publication of the Department Of Agriculture, Farmers Bulletin No. 662.
 These gregarious caterpi11ars con- struct the tents for their protection, and these, at first small, are gradually enlarged often to a foot or more in height and diameter, the size varying with the number of individuals in the colony. The caterpillars feed upon the foliage of the trees, stripping the nest, and if there be several colonies, l in a tree as is frequently the case during period of abundance, the fo- liage may be quite destroyed, leaving the branches as bare as in nidwinter. 1 Species of the tent caterpillar are found quite generally over the entire :! United States. The moyhs deposit their eggs by early midsummer, or earlier in the South. By fall the ern- brvonic larvae is practically full grown, within the egg where it re- mains until the following spring. With the coming of a warm spell the larvae escape by gnawing through their egg shell, often before there is foliage out for food, and under these circum- stances they may feed upon the glu- tinous covering of the egg mass.
 Methods of Control
 The tent caterpillar feeds princi- paI1y on wild cherry and apple trees, but will attack many other plants, and where such trees can be removed without disadvantage this should be done, thus lessentng its food supply. During the dormant period of trees, when the leaves are off, the egg masses are fairly conspicuous, and with a little practice may be readily found; it is then that they should be cut off and burned. Trees infest- ed with larvae during the early part of the year, or those in the imme- diate vicinity, are perhaps more like Iy to be chosen by the parent moth l for the deposition of her eggs, and I such trees at least should be search ed if 1t is not practicable to extend I This work may be combined with 1 pruning to good advantage. and a l lookout should be kept, not only for the eggs of this insect but for the species which pass the winter on the I trees.
 When two egg masses are deposited
 close together, the resulting caterpil- | lars may form a common nest. These l nests are gradually enlarged and soon
 furnish ample protection. If the cat
 erpillars< are destroyed as soon as the small nests are detected, this will prevent further defoiation of the
 trees, and the rule should be adopted
 either of two practices may be adopt
 ed, namely, destruction by hand or
 with a torch.
 When in convenient reach, the nests
 may be torn out with a brush, with
 gloved hand, or otherwise, and the
 larvae crushed on the ground, care
 being taken to destroy any caterpi1-
 lars which may have remained on the
 tree.
 The use of a. torch to burn out the
 nests will often be found convenient 1 especially when these occur in the
 higher parts of trees. An asbestos torch such as is advertised by seeds men, will be satisfactory or one may
 be made simply by tying rags to the
 end of a pole. The asbestos or rags
 are saturated with kerosene and
 lighted and the caterpiIlars as far as possible cremated. Some cateEpillars
 however, are likely to escape. failing
 from the nest upon the application o1 the torch. In using the torch grea-
 care is necessary that no importan injury be done the tree; it should no be used in burning out nests excep lin the smaller branches and twigs