Packard] THE POPULATION OF AN APPLE TREE. 185 



the weather during the month of July prove to be dry and 

 hot, as it frequently is, the damage is much more extensive, 

 whole orchards and forests perishing." In 1853 the worms 

 "continued in full force until the night of the 23d of June, 

 when brisk showers occurred, accompanied with heavy thun- 

 der, terminating the drouth which had prevailed, and with 

 this the worms suddenly disappeared." In one orchard a 

 thousand bushels of apples were destroyed, that being the 

 usual yield. "When they are young these worms eat only 

 the green pulpy tissues of the leaf, leaving its net-work of 

 veins entire. But as they become larger and more robust 

 the}^ consume the whole of the leaf, except the coarse veins. 

 It is the 3'oung and tender leaves, however, which grow at 

 or near the tips of the limbs, which they prefer ; the older 

 and tougher leaves are commonly eaten only at their tip 

 ends, and have irregular holes of various sizes gnawed in 

 them, some of these holes being no larger than a puncture 

 made with a pin. The green succulent ends of the twigs 

 are also frequently eaten off. And the young apples, which 

 were nearly as large as wahiuts when these worms made 

 their appearance, almost without exception had either round 

 holes or larger irregular cavities gnawed in their surface. 

 Thus wounded they wilt and fall from the tree, a few only 

 having the wounds so slight that they recover and remain 

 upon, the tree until they ripen." 



The moth into which the Palmer worm transforms closely 

 resembles the Gelechia of the granaries. It is of an ash 

 gray color, with six or seven equidistant black dots at the 

 base of the fringe on the outer edge of the wing. In the 

 middle of the wing are four larger dark dots, which are 

 placed ol)liqucly with regard to each other; the wings ex- 

 pand between a half and three-quarters of an inch. It 

 belongs to the family of Tineids, which have small, narrow 

 wings, with long, silky fringes. The common clothes moth 

 is a tyi)e of the family. Fitch recommends showering the 



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