"All life is sacred; the smallest worm has as good a right to live in the sight of God as you or any child has. Life should never be taken except when necessary. However, no one has the right to interfere with the rights of another. Neither the child nor the worm has any right to trespass upon the property of any one else." "Let us see whether these caterpillars are trespassers or not. The farmer works hard to earn the money to buy the land upon which the orchard is planted; he works hard to earn the money with which to buy the young trees; he works hard to set out the trees and cultivate the orchard; therefore the orchard and the fruit of it are his property, and he has a right to drive away all thieves. If men or children steal the fruit, he has a right to appeal to the law and have them fined or imprisoned. If worms come and injure the tree by eating up the foliage, he has a right to keep them out if he can. The leaves are necessary to the tree, for if they are destroyed the tree cannot get the air it needs to keep it vigorous and enable it to mature its fruit. We have seen that these caterpillars destroy the leaves, and thus do great injury to the apple crop. We therefore have a right to destroy these little robbers, as that is the only way we can keep them out of our orchards." How can the caterpillars be destroyed? The egg-masses can be collected in winter and early spring from young orchards, and burned. Tie bits of suet or fresh fat pork to the branches of the trees and thus induce chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers to visit the orchard in winter. These birds will destroy eggs and cocoons of the tent caterpillar, and of other insect pests also. In large, old trees, we must wait until later. Ask the pupils the following questions: At what times did we find the worms in their tents? _Answer._ Early morning; late afternoons; and during cold, dark days. If we should destroy the tents in the middle of a warm, sunny day, what would happen? _Answer._ The caterpillars, being out feeding on the leaves, would not be hurt, and as soon as they came back would make another tent. If the tent is destroyed in the early morning or late afternoon or on a cold, dark day, what would happen? _Answer._ The caterpillars, all being in the tent, would be destroyed. How may the tents be destroyed? _Answer._ By wiping them out with a long pole on one end of which is wound a rag saturated with kerosene. Or by burning them out with a torch. Is it best to destroy the caterpillars early in the season, while they are still small, or to wait until they are large and are about ready to pupate. If the trees were sprayed with Paris green in the early spring, what would happen? _Answer._ The caterpillars would be killed as soon as they began to eat, when they were first hatched.