STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 103 



in June. They then pupate witliin their cases, and about a fortnight 

 hiter emerge as small grayish moths. These moths soon di-posit their 

 eggs for another brood of larva}, which eat the foliage and construct 

 the silken tubular cases just mentioned. By the time the leaves 

 l)egin to fall, these larvae are from one-third to one-half grown, and 

 thev })repare for winter l>y fastening their cases to the twigs by 

 silken ro})es in the manner mentioned above. Thus there is but 

 one brood in a season. Besides the apple, this insect feeds upon the 

 quince, plum, cherry, peach and crab-apple. 



IXTRODUCTION INTO NEW LOCALITIES. 



I know of no other orchard insect that is so generally liable to 

 1)6 continually introduced into new localities through the dissemin- 

 ation of young fruit trees as this, the peculiar winter habit of the 

 species being such that unless the trees are examined with especial 

 reference to it before they are sent out, a few of the larvs are almost 

 certain to adhere to them. Hence, both the one sending and the one 

 receiving young fruit trees should be careful to pick off and destroy 

 anv superfluous-looking leaf masses that may be attached to them. 

 It may be urged that this pest is so generally distributed that it 

 would make no difference if a few more were brought into each 

 locality every year, but it does make a difference, for it disturbs the 

 balance which nature has adjusted between these pests and their 

 various enemies, and adds new energy to the work of destruction. 



REMEDIES. 



As has been stated, there is no excuse, save that of gross neg- 

 ligence, for the horticulturist who allows these pests to become 

 destructively numerous on young trees, either in the orchard or nur- 

 sery. The larval cases are so easily picked off at a season of the year 

 when the ruralist has abundant leisure that, if he takes any interest 

 in his trees at all, he can easily find time to attend to them. I have 

 l)een in several young orchards the past season, where these insects 

 were suthciently numerous to seriously check the healthy develop- 

 ment of the tree, and I doubt not that a similar condition prevails in 

 hundreds of young orchards throughout the State. In some in- 

 stances trees were so infested that there was a larva lying in wait for 

 nearly every bud; and it is needless to state that the effect of past 

 injuries could be easily traced in the diminished vitality of the tree. 

 Doubtless the method frequently recommended by entomological 

 writers, of placing the picked cases in an open field, away from trees, 

 where the larvae will starve, and their parasites, of which several 

 si)ecies are known, escape, is preferable to that of burning. Or, if 

 the trees are infested with any other of the several leaf-eating species, 

 they may be killed by spraying with arsenites, as advised elsewhere 

 in this paper. 



