98 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



SOME COMMON INSECTS INJURIOUSLY AFEECT1N(; THE 



YOUNG APPLE. TREES IN THE ORCHARD 



AND NURSERY. 



BY CLARENCE M. WEED. 



Those members of this Society who have attended its meetings 

 for the past decade, or who have studied the reports of its excellent 

 Secretary covering this period, can scarcely have failed to notice the 

 frequency with which the subject of the successful production of 

 apples has arisen for discussion. And it is a subject well worthy of 

 the earnest consideration of this body of intelligent horticulturists, 

 for it were a shame indeed were we to allow a host of injurious in- 

 sects, a tribe of parasitic fungi, or even the icy hand of old Jack 

 Frost himself, to drive from our tables and to banish from our 

 hearthstones the genial presence of this king of fruits. 



For the present dead and dying condition of the apple orchards 

 of Illinois various people have assigned various causes, the reason 

 being, as usual in such cases, largely attributable to the personal bias 

 of the one giving it; but I believe that he who finally solves this 

 difficult problem must use as factors in the solution a judicious com- 

 bination of these various reasons, giving each its due importance and 

 not allowing any one to so predominate that the others shall be ex- 

 cluded from consideration. It is the purpose of the present paper to 

 contribute one of the factors which must certainly enter into the 

 final solution — that of the relations of insect depredators — a few 

 facts of observation find experiment gleaned from the current fund 

 of entomological knowledge, note slips and correspondence of the 

 State Entomological Office, and a personal examination of a large 

 number of apple trees, both in the orchard and nursery, in various 

 parts of Illinois during the last two years. More than this it does 

 not pretend to do, but I firmly believe that the successful orchardist 

 must take into account some of the facts here noted, and must make 

 a part of his scheme of operations some of the remedies here sug- 

 gested. 



It is a common maxim that we should take heed to the begin- 

 nings of things; and, trite as it may seem, it is eminently applicable 

 to the cultivation of an apple orchard. The tree that is to success- 

 fully withstand the extremes of summer's heat and winter's cold 

 must be one that, from the very commencement of its growth, con- 

 tinues to develop normally and symmetrically, without any drain 

 upon its vitality on account of the injuries of insects that suck its 

 life-sap from root, stem or leaves, or gnaw at its lungs bv eating the 

 foliage. The principle underlying this statement is obvious to all, 



