88 Bulletin 142. 



fully, and get the most fun out of it — they are the ones who like 

 Hiawatha have 



*' Learned their names and all their secrets, 

 How they built their nests in summer, 

 Where they hide themselves in winter, 

 Talked with them whene'er he met them."* 



Naturally much has been written about an insect of such great eco- 

 nomic importance, and yet the literature embraces but comparatively 

 few approximately exhaustive and comprehensive accounts of it ; none 

 of these are now easily accessible to the fruit-grower. By far the best 

 account, written by Dr. L. O. Howard, was published in 1888, and no 

 similar attempt has been made by American writers since. Although 

 many reports, comprising thousands of pages of printed matter, have 

 been made on the insects of New York State, it is a surprising fact 

 that everything therein pertaining to this most important of all orchard 

 pests would occupy little more than half a dozen printed pages. We 

 began a critical study of the insect in the spring of 1896, and for 

 nearly two years have devoted much time to careful observations of its 

 habits in all stages. Considerable time has also been spent in ran- 

 sacking all of the foreign, as well as American, literature that could be 

 bought or borrowed; several interesting facts have been gleaned from 

 this search through many quaint and musty records which make up 

 the history of this insect. 



The above facts, we believe, fully warrant the somewhat exhaustive 

 discussion of this pest which follows. 



Some General Historical Notes. 



First account of the codlitig-moth ever published. — " These grubs have 

 their origin in the interior of the sugar pears, where they have their 

 home and find all their necessary food. It disposes itself for transforma- 



1 



* As some inquisitive mind may wonder why it is necessary' that man should 

 be tormented with this Httle worm whose palace is the wormy apple, we 

 submit the only attempt at an explanation that we have seen : "Or were 

 they created, solitary preachers on each little globe of fruit, which falls like 

 manna from above, to teach us some great moral lesson ? Come they into 

 our very faces to remind us.how ' dearl}' we paj' for the primal fall ? ' Do 

 they inha])it the finest specimens of that fruit by which our first mother was 

 tempted, in order to bid us taste the viands of Eden, and make us feel ' that 

 the trail of the serj^ent hangs over them all ? ' " 



