REPORTS OF AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. 26? 



spring, when they pupate, and in about two weeks the first moths appear. 

 The time when the first moths come forth varies from May 1 till July 1, so 

 that moths will be issuing from May 1 till August 1, and the "worms" will be 

 leaving the apples from the last of June till the fruit is gathered. My own 

 experience seems to show that no pupa? are formed after the last week in 

 August, as, so far as I have examined, all larvae that leave the' apple after that 

 time simply spin a cocoon, in which they remain as larvae till the next spring. 

 Some of the observing fruit men of our State think that during the past 

 season many of these insects pupated after that time. Such cases came not 

 within my observation. Of those larvae which leave the apple while it still 

 hangs on the tree, about one-half crawl down, till beneath some bark or in 

 some crevice they find seclusion in which to spin unobserved. Those which 

 fall to the ground with the fruit crawl out, and if the ground is free from all 

 rubbish, stumps, etc., they crawl up the tree and hide as before. As to reme- 

 dies, hogs kept in the orchard to devour the fallen fruit were of service, but 

 were only a partial remedy, for most of the moths crawl out before the apple 

 falls. The plan of using bands of cloth about the trees he considered the 

 most efficient. These bands are of woolen cloth, old or new, or any rough 

 cloth, about five inches wide, passed not tightly about the tree and fastened at 

 the ends by a tack. The larvae in passing down or up the trees (which are 

 presumed to have been previously cleared of rough bark) crawl beneath the 

 cloth and spin their cocoons. The bauds should be regularly inspected once a 

 week and the larvae destroyed. The bands should be on by the 20th of June 

 and left through the season, the weekly examinations extending to the last of 

 August, and at the close of the season they should be inspected. The tacks 

 should be driven in the center of the cloth. Prof. Beal had found the cost of 

 the bands and labor to be four cents per tree for 250 trees. Paper was some- 

 times used, but it is quite inferior to cloth. 



Mrs. Holton spoke of the evil results of worm nests on trees in the highway, 

 and thought a law should be made to compel owners of property to destroy 

 them. 



Mr. A. Lane had had good results from pasturing his orchard with hogs. 



Mr. LaFleur said the first worms become moths which lay eggs. These 

 become larvae and stay as such through the winter. Not all these latter worni3 

 leave the fruit but stay in it through the winter. If wire screens are put in 

 cellar windows the moths can be seen in the spring, hatched from the worms 

 that went in with the apples in the fall, trying to escape to the trees. The 

 best way to fight the pest is for a number of orchardists in a locality to com- 

 bine in using the bands, and hire a man to inspect them regularly. 



Mr. H. G-. Buck spoke of the necessity of scraping off the rough bark from 

 trees, and said the larvae would hide beneath sticks, in fences, brush-heaps, 

 etc. He said he once was given to shooting birds that took his berries, and the 

 woodpeckers that ate his corn when "in the milk," but he had learned better 

 than to do so. Now he would feed corn to a woodpecker to get him to stay 

 with us. 



Mr. LaFleur described the curculio as an insect that hibernates during the 

 winter in the mature state. In early spring, and even later, he lies concealed 

 under boards, clods, etc. This weevil is nocturnal, being active at night. So 

 soon as our plums, peaches, and cherries set, the curculio, a little brown beetle, 

 commences operations, imprinting the familiar crescent and placing an egg 

 inside. This egg-laying continues even to July. As the weather becomes 

 warmer the insect forsakes its habit of going down to the ground by day to 



