FORTY-FOURTH ■ ANNUAL REPORT. 131 



the demand when it is created. That i.s one reason Avhy the western 

 fruits have driven out the Michigan apples. Of course, grading and 

 paclving are brought to a liigh state of perfection but that is not alone 

 the cause. When a dealer buys a box of oranges he knows just Avhat he 

 is getting. If the box is marked tirst grade, he knows that is what it 

 contains, but when he buys Michigan apples, he never knows what is in 

 it, until he has taken every apple from the barrel. It seems strange 

 that fruit growers should be forced to^do what is for their own interests, 

 but it seems that it is necessary sometimes. When the fruit growers 

 wake up to the fact that in order to get the best prices for their fruit 

 they must give the dealer and the consumer a square deal, then will the 

 question of markets be solved. 



THE ARMY WORM, CUT WORM, RED BUG AND OTHERS. 



Prof. Pettit's. 



Friends: — This present season seems to have been a very abnormal 

 one. We have made more or less investigation concerning the different 

 pests that have been present this year and will presently speak about 

 them and if you have any questions to ask, I will be very glad to tell 

 you what I know of them. 



The first insect that I will take up is the red bug. This little bug is 

 a new thing in Michigan. Until last spring we had no knowledge of its 

 presence in this vicinity. Mr. Wooden first ran onto this little bug in 

 examining an orchard near Lansing. It is an old offender in the east, 

 especially in New York and New Jersey, but until this year we had never 

 been troubled with it. There are two species of it, and both look about* 

 the same. Both are fiiiit sucking insects. This bug passes the winter 

 in the egg state buried under the bark. It hatches and gets wings 

 about the time that the fruit blossoms. Its effect on the apple is to 

 make it knotty. The apple is not full of holes as when infected by the 

 curcuUio. but is knottv. We did not discover it in time to do anv 

 spraying for it this "year, but in the east they spray with nicotine after 

 the buds begin to show pink, and before the blossoms open. At that time 

 the eggs are hatched but the bugs have not yet got wings. After it gets 

 a little farther along, it is almdst impossible to do anything with it, as 

 they will simply tiy away. To spray for these pests as they do in the 

 east, simply combine your nicotine sulphate with your other spray. Do 

 not let this spray stand long before using. You can also use this same 

 spray for plant lice, and so accomplish the destruction of the two pests 

 in one operation. 



Question: Will tobacco stems take the place of nicotine? 



Ans : Tobacco stems contain but very little nicotine. In order to get 

 the nicotine out of them you must extract it with gasoline or some 

 such agent. If you steeped a tubful of tobacco stems over night, you 

 would only get about half a tubful of spraying material. You'd get a 

 strong odor, but that wouldn't be nicotine, as pure nicotine is practically 

 odorless. 



