13 J. Bulletin 142. 



In 1887 Wickson carried on an experiment to get at the exact propor- 

 tion between the worms on a tree and the number caught by bands during 

 the season. He bandaged 457 apple and pear trees at the California 

 Experiment Station, and caught only 1,188 worms while 2,704 fruits were 

 found from which the worms had escaped ; the bands had thus captured 

 only 44 per cent, of the worms. The trees were quite smooth, and only 

 one band was used. Doubtless better results would have been obtained by 

 ' the use of two bands. However, 44 per cent, is a good showing, and, as 

 Mr. Wickson well says, " the destruction of this proportion of fully fed and 

 healthy larvae must be considered very satisfactory; " and it will be seen 

 that this old method of treatment is still one of the most effective that can 

 be employed." The next year a similar experiment was made at the 

 Kansas Experiment Station, but in this case all of the trees were also 

 sprayed with poisons, thus somewhat complicating matters. The record 

 shows that the bands captured only about 8.5 per cent. (238,000 infested 

 apples and only 20,398 insects) of the insects which had done the injury; 

 one band was used, and it seems as though there must have been some 

 conditions not mentioned in the record which might explain the great dif- 

 ference between these results and those obtained in California. Yet, with 

 even this small per cent, of worms captured, it was considered that the 

 bands could be used with profit in Kansas. 



It is surprising how many of the worms can be captured sometimes 

 under these bands. In 1873, Beal thus entrapped on 211 trees bearing 

 light crops 6,884 ^^f the insects during the season, the largest catch being 

 1,450 on July 18, and the smallest 210 on August 15. 



Previous to the discovery of the spraying method for combating the 

 codhng-moth, tliis banding system was the most successful method sug- 

 gested, and as the above facts show, it has been demonstrated that 

 much can be done with bands to reduce the numbers of the pest. Yet, 

 under the most favorable circumstances, apparently, we cannot hope to 

 capture more than half of the full-grown worms with the bands, and 

 then not until they have done their destructive work. In short, with 

 the bands we simply help to reduce the numbers of the succeeding 

 generations of the insect, and thus at the l)est it is only a partial 

 remedy. However, all who have tested it, claim that the method can 

 be practiced with profit, and it is evident that where there are two full 

 broods or more of the insect, we must devise something to supplement 

 or take the place of the poison spray. Thus, under such circumstances, 

 doubtless the best method of combating the i)est, so far as our present 



