94 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



some other secluded situation. It cannot be supposed, therefore, that at 

 these times it can be materially affected by meteoric influences. But it 

 is very possible that unusually cold or violent storms occurring at the 

 time the parent moth is depositing her eggs, may seriously interfere with 

 the accomplishment of that purpose, and this, in the absence of other 

 known causes, may help to explain the well known fact that the codling 

 worm, like all other insects, is much more abundant in the same locality, 

 some years than others. 



The codling worm, whilst in the fruit, is also in a great measure pro- 

 tected from all natural enemies, both predaceous and parasitic. A few 

 of them are known to fall a prey to the parasitic ichneumon flies, whilst 

 they are in the pupa state, and when their covert, it may be presumed, 

 happens to be rather superficial and exposed. But the only really efficient 

 enemies of the codling moth are the woodpeckers, which, during the 

 long wintry season, depend upon just such hidden larvae as these for their 

 subsistence. With respect to human methods of opposition, the only one 

 much relied upon is that of capturing the worms under bands put around 

 the trees at the times when they are leaving the apples, and seeking a 

 covert for transformation. Great numbers of worms can be easily caught 

 by this method. But, regarded from a general point of view, as a means 

 of combatting the codling worm, it fails in two important respects : first, 

 we do not capture the worms by this method until after they have effected 

 all the damage they are capable of, and have voluntarily deserted the 

 ruined fruit. Its benefit is altogether prospective, with the view of lessen- 

 ing the number of the succeeding brood. Secondly, however persistently 

 practiced, it cannot be expected to be very effective unless the orchard in 

 which it is used stands at a considerable distance from other orchards, or 

 unless there is a community of action among all the neighboring orchard- 

 ists ; a co-operation, however, upon which experience teaches us we can 

 rarely depend. I do not wish to be understood as discouraging this prac- 

 tice. On the contrary, it is a method so easily put in operation, and so 

 cheaply, too, if we use paper bands instead of cloth, and it may be made 

 so effective by associated action, that we strongly advise, not its abandon- 

 ment, but its more general and persistent practice. 



Second — The Plum and Peach Curculio. Injurious insects are of all 

 grades. Some only act the part of pruners, and if the crop is very abun- 

 dant, they become useful by reducing the number and improving the 

 quality of the fruit. Others go a step further, and seriously damage the 

 crop, but graciously leave a modicum, more or less, for the owner. They 

 apparently do not wish to wholly discourage the proprietor from continu- 

 ing to raise those crops which they find so conducive to their own com- 

 fort and subsistence. But the plum curculio takes the whole. If left to 

 his own devices, he does not leave a single plum, and rarely a single peach. 

 He makes no compromises; he enters upon a war of extermination. It is 

 man versus curculio, and it is about nip and tuck between them. So far 

 as the plum is concerned, we have virtually abandoned the field, and left 

 the little Turk in undisturbed possession. In the domain of the peach, 

 the conflict is still maintained. Like all protracted wars, this has come 



