SOME INSECTS OF THE APPLE AND THEIR CONTROL 



P. J. Parrott 



Entomologist, New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva 



Apple growing has become a liiglily specialized branch of agri- 

 culture. To bring an orchard into bearing, which is not only pro- 

 ductive but profitable as well, is no small achievement. It is 

 an undertaking that calls for skill and intelligence. From the 

 time of planting, the requirements of the orchard must be care- 

 fully considered, and one does not have to be long on the road 

 of experience before he realizes that a growing, fruitful planting 

 makes many demands — has many needs which the wise grower 

 will attempt to satisfy. There are problems of pruning to pro- 

 mote symmetry of form and fruitfulness and problems of cultiva- 

 tion and fertilization that make for growth and productiveness 

 which must be solved according to one's individual knowledge, 

 judgment and circumstances. And this is not all, for not only 

 must the orchardist prune and cultivate and fertilize, but if he 

 hopes for a reasonable measure of reward for his labors he must 

 preserve the health of the trees and protect the growing fruit from 

 inroads by destructive insects and diseases. 



The successful management of a remunerative orchard calls 

 then for constant balancing and discrimination of ideas. And it 

 is the problem of the grower to select and to put into practice such 

 teachings as seem most applicable to his own circumstances. 

 These considerations apply with especial force to the subject under 

 discussion, " How to combat the destructive insects of the apple 

 orchard." Some growers seem imable to make much progress in 

 their spraying operations while others with little experience in 

 orcharding appear to bo bewildered by the numbers of insects that 

 infest this fruit and by the various details that enter into the 

 selection and application of insecticides. However, the problem 

 is not as difficult as it first appears. While the apple is subject 

 to the attacks of many insects, the number of species of vital im- 



[1732] 



