SEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 657 



the rough bark compels the insects to hibernate where more of them are 

 destroyed by birds. Woodpeckers, chickadees and similar birds are most 

 important in reducing the numbers of this pest. These birds deserve 

 encouragement. The entomologist of the Ohio station strongly recom- 

 mends placing a little feed in the orchard to attract them. The adult 

 codling moth is a night flying insect but it is not attracted to light, conse- 

 quently can not be caught in any of the patent moth traps. Apple tree 

 borers are serious pests in places. Their presence is usually indicated by 

 sawdust-like castings worked out about the base of the tree. Unless de- 

 stroyed they are likely to girdle the tree. The best remedy is to dig 

 them out with a knife or run a small wire into them. A little kerosene 

 injected into the hole will usually reach and kill the borer. As a preventa- 

 tive remedy a deterrent was;h may be prepared by adding washing soda 

 to soft soap and making a mixture of the consistency of thick paint. One 

 application of this to the body of the tree each month for three months, 

 beginning the first of June, will prevent eggs being laid upon it. 



The apple tree tent caterpillar and the tentless tent caterpillar, like 

 other leaf-eating insects, are easily poisoned. Any old webs or peculiar 

 masses noticed on the limbs in winter are probably egg masses of some 

 insect and should be cut off and destroyed. Plums and cherries are sub- 

 ject to the same or similar borers as the apple and they are susceptible 

 to the same treatment as those of the apple. In addition there is another 

 group of insects which belong more especially to the plum, but are often 

 equally injurious to the apple. These are the curculios, which cause 

 wormy plums and cherries; and disfigure the apples, making them knotty 

 and ill-sihaped. These insects can l)e controlled to but a limited extent 

 by spraying. Just before the buds open is the most effective time to 

 spray for these insects. An extra strong mixture should be used as the 

 insects are not easily poisoned and feed comparatively little upon the 

 surface. They are easily jarred off upon a sheet and can thus be de- 

 stroyed, or a flock of chickens may be trained to pick them up off the 

 ground. The most practicable remedy for a large orchard is clean culti- 

 vation. The larvae pupate within one or two inches of the top of the 

 ground and are so sensitive to sunlight that a short exposure to it kills 

 them. Orchards which receive frequent shallow cultivation for five or 

 six weeks beginning about the middle of July or a little earlier, are but 

 little infested by these insects. 



In a paper of this length, considering such a large subject, only a 

 few of the most injurious insects can be treated at all and they in a 

 most meager manner. Many injurious insects found here to a greater or 

 less extent have not even been mentioned. Many remedies have not been 

 fully discussed or even mentioned. As a rule only those applicable on a 

 commercial scale have been given. Many ingenious devices may be in- 

 vented by the gardener for the protection of a few plants. It has been 

 assumed that the author cared nothing about the peculiar anatomy and 

 interesting physiology of these little animals, although perhaps a paper 

 dealing with these subjects would be of more real value than one at- 

 tempting to deal with the remedies first. In summing up, first importance 

 must be given clean culture, a remedy almost universal, most easily 



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