No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 166 



fruits and punctured them, inserting the long proboscis, and suck- 

 ing out the juice in a circle within a radius of about one-half inch. 

 Around this circle the surface of the fruit was stained brown by 

 the liquid deposited by the moth. This damage was very con- 

 spicuous and considerable. It ii also reporte<l that thty injured 

 grapes in the same way. 



The Apple seed chalcis, Syntomaspis draparum, was a rery con- 

 siderable pest in the apples of the northeastern part of Pennsyl- 

 vania. Our inspectors in that region found it in many of the or- 

 chards which they visited. They particularly found it abundant and 

 destructive to the fruits of old, neglected or wild apple trees. We 

 worked out the life history of this insect, and published a circular 

 upon it which is inserted in a foregoing portion of this report. 



The Apple maggot or Eailroad worm, Rhayoletis pomonella, was 

 also very abundant and destructive in apples in the northern part of 

 Pennsylvania, and as it is a pest that is not usually recognized, 

 and for which many fruit growers have as yet done but little, it is 

 important for us to call attention to its results, and the need of 

 checking it. 



This so-called '"worm" is really the larva or maggot of a fly not 

 larger than a house fly. The egg is laid about the time the fruit 

 is ripe, and the little larva bores around through the pulp of the 

 apple in a winding or sinuous manner, and hence is given the name 

 "Railroad worm." It does not confine itself to the vicinity of the 

 core, as does the codling moth, but bores all through the fruit, 

 and practically renders it unfit for use, as well as making it rot 

 much sooner. It is much worse in the soft, early apples and sweet 

 apples. As it lives for some time in the fallen apple before going 

 into the ground to pupate, there is a satisfactory means of pre- 

 venting further loss by it. This is to destroy the fallen fruit within 

 a half week from the time it drops. If the orchard is pastured with 

 sheep or hogs it will not be a dillicult matter to prevent the further 

 ravages of the Eailroad worm. 



As this pest is carried in fruits washed down stream, it is liable 

 to be spread southward across the State of Penn.sylvania, along 

 the shores of the Susquehanna River, and thence spread back into 

 the adjacent country. All groweis should be on the lookout for it, 

 and be sure to destroy the fallen fruits promptly. There is no 

 spraying remedy that is efficient or recommended. 



The time has come for us to call attention to the importance of 

 a law providing for the destruction of all worthless, forsaken, dying 

 and seedling fiuit trees in this Slate. We here era])hasize the ])oint 

 that jtlant sanitation is fully as imjiortant to the yjlant grower or 

 tree grower, as is animal sanitation to the live stock gi-ower. It is 

 far better for the interests of our citizens that they destroy the 

 breeding places of 7)lant foes, and j)revent their multijdication, 

 rather than dej>end ujion local ap])lications to check their increase. 

 For exam])le, one old seedling apjde tree left standing along a fence, 

 and ]>articularly ah)ng the line fence where each owner hesitates 

 to desti'oy it because of the su])p()sed partial interest in it by the 

 other, will be able to su])ply enough ]>ests in the form of Codling 

 moths, Apple seed chalcids, Railroad worius, San Jose scale. 

 Oyster Shell scale. Fire blight, Canker worms. Tent caterpillars, etc., 

 to infest and infect the entire orchard for quite a distance around it. 



