1902.-] INSECTS — RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. 205 



The Codlin moth {Carpocapsa ponwnclla). 



The common apple worm, or Codhn moth, is a serious 

 pest in the orchards. The aduh is a pretty brown moth which 

 lays eg-gs upon the young apples soon after the blossoms 

 appear. The eggs are usually placed upon the young fruit, 

 but may be deposited upon the leaves. At this time the 

 young apples stand upright and the calyx is wide open. If 

 we spray the trees with poison at this time we are sure to 

 put some of the poison into the calyx cup, and the young 

 caterpillar, wherever hatched, usually goes to this part of the 

 apple to make his tunnel into it. The presence of the poison 

 there will prevent injury to the apple and ^ill kill the larvae 

 that try to tunnel into it. A week or ten days after the blos- 

 som falls this calyx cup begins to close up so that it is im- 

 possible then to place any poison in it, and still later, when 

 the apple is perhaps half grown, it hangs down so that the 

 poison would not remain in this calyx if put upon the fruit. 

 The insect tunnels inside the fruit, usually in the region of 

 the core, until full-grown, when it eats a hole to the outside 

 of the apple and goes to the ground or to the trunk of the 

 tree and makes its cocoon. 



Spraying the tree with Paris green, one pound to 150 

 pounds of water, is a common remedy. At least three pounds 

 of lime should be slacked and added to this mixture to pre- 

 vent injury to the foliage. Orchardists are now spraying 

 their trees with Bordeaux mixture to prevent injury from the 

 various blights and fungi attacking the trees and fruit, and as 

 this mixture contains a large quantity of lime the Paris green 

 may be added to it directly without injury. 



The gypsy moth {Porthctria dispar). 



I wish to call attention to the fact that the State of Massa- 

 chusetts has discontinued fighting the gypsy moth. Nearly 

 one million dollars have been expended during the past ten 

 years in fighting this insect by that State, but at the last 

 legislature the appropriation to continue the work was re- 

 fused, and we may now expect that the insect will be brought 

 into our State. This insect was introduced into America in 

 1868 by a man who was experimenting with silk culture. He 

 had hopes that this species might prove of value. A few in- 

 sects accidentally escaped and, though nothing was seen of 

 them for several years, and it was thought that they had all 



