464 THE GARDENER [Oct. 



by this means to leave a numerous offspring behind her. The egg in 

 the shoot is hatched in the course of eight days, and a white grub with 

 a black head then makes its appearance. It feeds upon the pith of the 

 shoot, and if the shoots fall off it arrives at its full size in four weeks. 

 It then leaves its dwelling and buries itself some inches deep in the 

 earth. It there prepares itself a roomy chamber, in which it remains 

 till spring, when it again appears as a steel-blue-coloured weevil." To 

 destroy this enemy, all the fallen shoots ought to be removed at once 

 and burned, and in winter the soil ought to be removed to the depth 

 of 5 or 6 inches. With care and attention to these two particulars, 

 and at the same time burning the soil removed, the enemy may at once 

 and effectually be removed. 



Aspidiotus conchiformis, or Apple-tree mussel-scale, is most prevalent 

 upon trees trained upon the wall, yet, nevertheless, it is sometimes to 

 be found upon standards also. It is very small, and invariably of the 

 same colour as the bark, so that its presence is not easily detected. It 

 attacks both the trunk and branches, and proves often very destructive. 

 The scales are of a dark shining appearance, and sometimes so numer- 

 ous as to be laid layer above layer. They sometimes extend even to 

 the fruit, and when this is the case, they entirely destroy its appear- 

 ance. Many methods have been adopted for its destruction, but the 

 most simple, and perhaps the least injurious to the tree, is to scrape 

 the bark thoroughly, and thereafter to wash the branches with soft 

 soap and warm water, scrubbing it well with a hard brush. This 

 may be done in winter, and again in spring. Let all the soil, to the 

 depth of an inch, be removed under the tree, and burned, and the 

 chances are that a second application may not be necessary. 



There are several varieties of the caterpillar which prove very in- 

 jurious to Apple and other fruit trees. The principal ones, however, 

 are the Episema cseruleocephala, or caterpillar of the figure of 8 moth ; 

 the Hibernia brumata, or caterpillar of the winter moth ; the Zeuzera 

 assculi, or wood-leopard moth caterpillar ; and the Cossus ligniperda, 

 or caterpillar of the goat moth. Each and all of these often prove 

 very injurious to our fruit-trees in spring and summer, by either 

 boring into the wood under the bark, or eating and otherwise destroy- 

 ing the foliage. Some of them even attack the buds, blossoms, and 

 young fruit. The most common one, however, is the Yponomenta 

 malivorella, or caterpillar of the ermine Apple moth, which covers the 

 shoots and branches with thick webs in early summer. In these webs 

 it makes cocoons, which change shortly after into a chrysalis, which, 

 by the beginning of July, produces the perfect moth. Its nourish- 

 ment is entirely derived from the leaves of the tree. The best and 

 surest method to destroy the whole of this family is to hand-pick them. 



