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TEANSACTIONS OF THE CENTRAL 



This tarred belt caught and detained all the females on their upward journey. A good plan is to 

 melt India rubber and smear a piece of rope with it, and tie it several times around the trunk. This 

 melted substance is so verj' sticky that the Insects will be captured in all their attempts to pass over 

 it. If those trees which have suffered with the insect have the ground under them dug and turned 

 over, to the depth of five inches, in October, and a good top dressing of lime applied as far as the 

 branches extend, the canker worm will there be almost entirely destroyed. 



But our chief dependence for the destruction of this pestilent insect is the never failing vigilance 

 of the feathered tribe. We have investigated this matter thoroughly, and have learned enough to 

 satisfy any one, that birds are one of the links in the chain of creation, just as necessary as any 

 other link for the harmonious working of the whole. The blue bird destroys large numbers, not of 

 larva; alone, but of full developed moths in the fall, and again in the spring they return just in time 

 to devour the insect as it emerges from the soil. The cedar bird is another enemy. This little bird 

 is a gross feeder, and when the canker worm appears in great numbers as they sometimes do, it will 

 come iu large flocks and feed upon them day after day till the pest is subdued. The butcher bird also 

 feeds its young largely upon the larva. We well remember it clearing two trees literally covered 

 with this caterpillar, and so well did thai pair of shrikes do their work, that these same trees have 

 not been troubled with the insect since. 



We call the attention of all horticulturists to this injurious insect, hoping that they will do their 

 part to prevent its spread, and by their united efforts keep it from becoming to the West what it is 

 in many of the Eastern States, a pestilence and a curse. 



THE CODLING MOTH. 



If anj' one who listens to these papers really wishes to know the condition of the fruit crops of our 

 country— especially the apple crop— he will find no better place to gratify his curiosity than the stalls 

 in our markets, and the tables of our fruit dealers; and there trying to select fair and handsome fruit 

 he will be astonished to find so many blemishes. The majority of these are caused by the Codling 

 Moth. This insect, like most other moths and butterflies, increases rapidly. Some deposit several 

 hundred eggs at one time, and the subject of our present sketch deposits two such broods each 

 year; and were it not for the checks which meet it at every stage of its short life, all the apples of 

 this country would soon be appropriated by them. Changes of the weather will prevent their 

 ravages. The larvaj of other insects feed upon them. The ichneumon fly destroys large numbers, 

 by depositing its eggs in the bodies of the young grubs, and the titmouse, bluebird, and the downy 

 woodpecker prevent their increase to a large extent. We have long known that this terrible enemy 

 had its enemies among our birds, and after patient watching have been able to identify these three 

 as being particularly destructive to the progress of the Codling Moth. 



It is supposed by Entomologists to have been introduced from Europe with the apple tree. Tlie 

 perfect insect is a very small moth, the forewings gray, crossed by.brown, with large lines, and a 

 dark spot on the hinder margin. These moths appear in the greatest numbers in the warm evenings 

 of the first of June, and lay tlieir eggs in the eye or calyx of the young fruit. These eggs batch in a 

 short time, and the young grub burrows its way to the core, leaving behind it a brownish powder. 

 The fruit ripens prematurely and drops to the ground. Here the full grown worm leaves the fruit 

 and creeps into the crevices of the bark of the tree, there spins its thin paper like cocoon, and in a 

 short time comes forth a full grown moth, ready to perpetuate its species by laying its eggs in the 

 nearly full grown fruit. This worm also spins a cocoon like the first, in which it remains during the 

 winter months. We always find large quantities of cocoons inside of the hoops of apple barrels. 

 Boiling water poured upon the hoops will destroy them. 



Now it is apparent that this insect stands nearly first in importance of all the enemies of our fruits, 

 and the question very naturally arises in the mind of every anxious cultivator of the soil, what can 

 be done to rid ourselves of this pest? We will endeavor to answer: First, cultivate thoroughly 

 among the trees, and let no grass grow in the orchard. Second, pick up promptly all fallen wormy 

 fruit and throw them to the hogs, or otherwise destroy them. Third, as cocoons are seen chiefly 

 under the old loose bark, the thorough cultivator will take care— by keeping the trunks of his trees 

 perfectly smooth— to afford them little harbor. This should be done every spring by scraping and 

 washing. Whenever we see trees covered with loose scales of bark, we set down its owner as a 

 careless orchardist, and not deserving of success. Fourth, tie an old rag or piece of cloth around 

 the trunk of the tree, and another piece of cloth or a wisp of soft hay in the crotch of the tree, about 

 the time the fruit begins to fall, and the worms will make them a retiring place. Examine the under 

 part of these cloths once a week, and thousands maybe caught and destroyed. Fifth, light small 

 bonfires during the still, warm evenings in the months of June and July in different parts of the 

 orchard. Thus myriads of this and other pestiferous moths will be attracted to the light and de- 

 stroyed before they have time to deposit their eggs and cause worm-eaten fruit. 



Finally encourage birds in your orchard. Note those trees which bore wormy fruit this year: hang 

 up some fat meat or offal in the branches. The titmouse will keep high carnival there this winter, 

 and destroy every cocoon. Put up a bird box in your trees and the blue bird will destroy the moth 



