SPRAYING THE APPLE ORCHARD 65 



enemies of the codling moth are many and various, but altogether they do 

 not control the pest especially in those districts where there are two 

 broods of the insect. The woodpecker is vhe most important of nature's 

 enemies to the apple worm. So thorugh in his work is this feathered ally 

 of the fruit grower that it is often difficult in the spring to find living 

 larvae of the codling moth except in those places that are absolutely in- 

 accessable to Mr. Woodpecker. Beside the woodpecker and other birds 

 there are many predaceous and parisitic invertebrate enemies of the 

 codling moth but as a whole their work in subduing the pest is of com- 

 paratively little importance. 



Man's remedies for the codling moth may be either preventive or 

 remedial, and cf the many sugg.j=iorl for thf> pest's control, spraying is 

 by far the most efficient and practical. Sprajang while perhaps profitable 

 in the neglected orchard, should never be expected to take the place of 

 cultivation, pruning, and other work necessary for success in the fruit 

 growing business. Clean culture, scientific pruning, removing loose bark, 

 destroying windfalls all have their influence in the control of the codling 

 moth. If bushes and weeds are not allowed to mature in the orchard, 

 if the trees are kept smooth and well groomed, if rubbish and brush are 

 removed suitable hiding places for cocoon spinning and desirable winter 

 homes for tht.^ uclosed larvae are correspondingly fewer, and the insect 

 is compelled to pass the winter exposed to the attacks of its arch enemies 

 the various woodpeckers. By properly pruning the orchard from its start 

 decayed stubs and hollow knots may be obviated. 



Spraying the trees at various times with an arsenical poison is the 

 most effective means man has yet devised for the control of the codling 

 moth. As the pest passes the destructive portion of its career 

 wholly within the apple, it would seem at first a difficult proposition to 

 poison the insect, but nature has not perfectly defended the insect from 

 the attacks of man, and by utilizing our knowledge of its life cycle we 

 can make its career a brief one. We know the 90% of the first brood of 

 the codling moth caterpillars enter the apple througli calyx and if we 

 can coat the calyx cavity with poison the chances are that the young 

 worm's first meal will be his last. Spraying the apple as soon as the 

 petals have fallen and before the calyx lobes have closed is the only 

 effective way of doing this. Now this stage in the development of the 

 apple lasts but a week, the orchadist must then lose no time, especially 

 if his orchard is extensive. For the benefit of the remaining 10% 

 of the young worms that enter the apple from the stem end or side 

 and for the few that may taste the tender leaves before entering the 

 apples, this poisonous sip ray is generally repeated about three weeks 

 after the petals have fallen, and before the codling moth eggs have hatch- 

 ed. In spite of all of its natural enemies mans pr'eventive measures, his 

 remedies against it enough of the first brood of the codling moth general- 

 ly mature to make the second brood, where prevalent as in Nebraska, 

 much more numerous than the first. This second brood can be controlled 

 by means of poison from the first spray still in the calyx cavity and by 



