INJURING THE LEAVES. 



69 



tissues of the leaf where they are being dry and 

 dead. This is caused by the Pear-leaf Mite, an 

 extremely minute creature, related to the Red Spicier 

 found in greenhouses. 



It reproduces by means of eggs laid within the 

 galls — the discolored spots already mentioned — 

 which hatch into little mites that sometime after- 

 wards leave their birth place, and burrow into the 

 tissue of a healthy portion of the leaf. Here they 



Fig. 30. Leaf injured by Pear Mite. 



feed upon the leaf-substance, forming a new gall, and 

 starting another generation of their kind. As autumn 

 approaches and the leaves become dry, the mites de- 

 sert them, migrating to the twigs, where they gather 

 on the buds, and penetrate between the leafy scales, a 

 situation in which they pass the winter. 



Remedies. — This pest is difficult to fight. So 

 long as it remains in the tissues of the leaves it is 



