1914 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



the trees should be sprayed just before the buds open with a miscible 

 oil, I gallon in 15 gallons of water. Great care should be taken to do 

 thorough work and to apply the liquid so as to wet each egg mass. In 

 this way from seventy to ninety per cent of the eggs can be destroyed, 

 but this treatment alone cannot be relied on to control the pest. It must 

 be supplemented by one or two thorough applications of arsenate of 

 lead, 2 1 to 3 pounds in 100 gallons of water, made just after the buds 

 have opened. That is, the trees should be sprayed as soon as the buds 

 burst and then resprayed immediately. 



green fruit-worms 

 Xylina antennata Walker, and other species 

 Although green fruit-worms are generally distributed throughout the 



State they do not often become of importance as apple pests. They are 

 primarily forest insects feeding on the foliage of poplar, soft 

 maple, hickory, and wild cherry. Serious outbreaks have 

 occurred at long intervals, 1877, 1896, and again in 1913. 

 For the past two years they have been especially trouble- 

 some in the orchards of Clinton County. The scarcit}^ 

 of these insects over long periods of time has been at- 

 tributed to adverse climatic conditions and to the depre- 

 dations of parasitic enemies. In years of abundance 

 these caterpillars are capable of causing great losses to 



j^ „ the apple crop, and growers shoiild be familiar with the 



of green fruit- nature of the injury and should understand the best 



worm on twig, means of preventing such loss. 

 enlarged 



Although there are three closely related species of green 



fruit-worms commonly destructive to apples, they are all very similar in 

 appearance and habits. The parent moths appear in the orchard in 

 March or April and deposit their small, nearly globular, ridged, yellowish 

 eggs (Fig. 123) singly on the smaller branches or sometimes on the under- 

 side of the leaves. The moth has an 

 expanse of about one and one-half inches. 

 The fore wings are brownish gray with 

 obscure darker markings ; the hind wings 

 are lighter in color (Fig. 124). The 

 moths are sometimes a nuisance in sugar 

 maple groves, where they are attracted 

 to the sap and collect in great numbers p^^ ^^^ _ ^^^j^ of green fruit-worm 

 in the sap pails. 



The eggs hatch as the buds are biu-sting, and the young caterpillars 

 at first feed on the opening leaves. By the time the fruit sets most of 



