"Mrs. M. C. B.," Yonkers, N. Y., writes: "I wish to ask you if there is any way to destroy the worm that eats the leaves of the elm, or if there is anything that could be put round the tree to prevent the worm crawling up. We have a large elm tree in front of our house, and last summer almost every leaf was eaten. I would be much obliged for any information you can give me".

[The "worm" does not crawl up the elm tree - no protection from that point of view is practicable. The trouble comes from a small beetle, which flies up into the tree, deposits its eggs on the leaves, which then hatch, and produce the "worm" that works so great destruction. After a certain time the "worm" crawls down the trunk of the tree, in order to undergo in the earth the transformations necessary to reach again the beetle state. It has been recommended to pile earth around the base of the tree, and then remove and burn it, thus destroying the whole crop of travellers down the trunk. This secures the tree, in a great measure, the next year, from the descendants of those which injured it this; but unless every person who has an elm tree in the vicinity does likewise, it is akin to the efforts of those who would dip out the ocean with a bucket. The beetle will come from other places next year. If the beauty of the tree be worth the trouble, the only sure method of preserving it is to get a powerful garden engine, and force a solution of Paris green or London purple over the leaves which are being eaten by the worms.

This destroys the creatures at once, and saves the tree for the season. - Ed. G. M].