FAKMEES' INSTITUTES. 93 



the trunks and main branches of the trees. This may be done wlien leisure or 

 time will best permit, except it were better that it be loft till the severe cold of 

 winter has passed b)'. 



The first week of June the trunks and main branches of the trees should re- 

 ceive an application of soft soap, which ought to be repeated, especially if the 

 trees are youno-, the first week of July. This substance may be applied Avith a 

 brush or broom. 



In May and August certain inseets will spin webs in the trees. These should 

 never be allowed to remain. If examined in the middle of the day they will be 

 found to contain ''worms," the larvae of moths. If ou the end of twigs 

 they may be cut oil and burned, or, wherever tliey be, they may be crushed with 

 the hand, in which case an old buckskin glove may be worn. If not done in the 

 middle of the day the insects may be out of the v/eb feeding upon the foliage, 

 and thus escape. The orchardist should be on the watch, so as to criulicatc 

 these pests at the first onset. 



Ou or before the 20th of June, bands made of coarse or old woolen cloth, and 

 about four inches wide, should be wound about the tree and fastened with a 

 single tack. Coarse paper or thin wood, such as is used for berry boxe^:, may 

 replace the clotli, yet the jiaper is not as good. The bands need only be long 

 enough to lap sufficiently that a tack may secure it about the tree. These bands 

 are not to be put on any trees that have no frait on them. By the 10th of July 

 some of these bands which surround trees which yield the earliest fruit, as the 

 early harvest, for instance, should be examined. This may be done by drawing 

 the tack, which is never driven quite to the head, with a small tack-hammer, 

 which, for convenience, should be suspended by a cord which surromids the 

 neck. If small "worms," such as are often seen in the fruit, or small silken 

 cocoons, which contain the pupa3 of the same insect, are found, these should 

 ALL be crushed vnth the thumb, and the cloth band adjusted as before. All the 

 bands should be thus examined every ten days till the first of September, when 

 the work may be discontinued till after the apples are all gathered, wlien the 

 bands should be again examined and the insects destroyed. If the bands ou the 

 earliest apple trees are found to contain no insects on the 10th of Jul}', the 

 examination may be discontinued till the 20th, and then examined as before 

 explained. 



Eooms where apples are kept in summer and autumn, and cellars where they 

 are stored in winter, should be absolutely tight, so that no insect, however small, 

 could possibly escape; and from May to July these should be kept constantly 

 closed. If ventilation is desired in these rooms, it may be secured by putting 

 screens of fine wire gauze in the windows. 



During the months of July and August the twigs of the apple trees may 

 become blighted. If such is the case, let there be a close examination to deter- 

 mine if the twigs are- tunneled or any insect is found therein. If such is the 

 case, let the twigs be cut off and burned. 



In August and September the trees should be closely examined, that Ave may 

 learn whether or no the borers are at Avork, This is especially desirable with 

 young trees. If a dark spot appears, caused by discolored bark, through which 

 an opening is seen Avith a sa,wdust-like material protruding, then Avith a sharp 

 knife, and wire rather small, not very flexible, and with a handle, eitiier cut till 

 the borer is found and crushed, or else crush by v\'orking the Avire in the cham- 

 ber, Avhen it is thought the amount of cutting necessary aA'OuM injure the tree. 



The amount of labor required to do as above recommended is not very great. 



