22 DECIDUOUS FRUIT INSECTS AND INSECTICIDES. 



gallons of water or Bordeaux mixture, and because of the strength 

 at Avhich it may be used without injury to foliage and its excellent 

 sticking qualities it is to be preferred to other arsenicals for canker- 

 worms. At least two applications of the poisoned spray should be 

 made; the first as the fruit buds are exposed, or just as the foliage is 

 pushing out, but before the blossoms open, and the second in eight to 

 ten days, or at once after the blossoms have fallen. In bearing 

 orchards the second treatment is the principal one for the codling 

 moth, and if the poison be used in Bordeaux mixture the two applica- 

 tions of this combined insecticide and fungicide will largely protect 

 the trees and fruit from canker-worms, the codling moth, and other 

 leaf-feeding insects, and will lessen apple scab. 



While it may often appear impracticable to spray some orchards on 

 account of the height of the trees, most orchards may be plowed and 

 cultivated, and this work should certainly form a part of the plan of 

 canker-worm eradication. 



Another important method of protecting high orchard and other 

 trees which it is impracticable to spray is the employment of special 

 protectors, such as bands of cotton, or sticky substances. These are 

 placed around the trunk of the tree near the base, and are used to pre- 

 vent the ascent of the wingless females to deposit their eggs, or the 

 ascent of any larva' from eggs deposited below the bands or which 

 have fallen from the trees. Sticky substances, such as printer's ink, 

 tar, bird lime, and certain ])roprietarv preparations, are best. On 

 account of the danger of injury to the trees, these are best applied on 

 strips of paper 5 or (> inches wide and of sufficient length to go around 

 the tree. The loose bark should first l)e scraped from the trunk where 

 the band is to be applied, and if a light band of cotton batting be 

 first fastened where the paper band i^ to l)e placed this will effectu- 

 ally prevent the insects working up beneath the sticky paper band. 

 Cotton batting may also be used, the trunk being encircled with a 

 strip 4 or 5 inches wide. This is tied with a string at the lower edge 

 and the band then turned downward. This will be effective so long 

 as it remains fluffy, but usually requires renewal after heavy rains. 

 Whatever form of protector is used nnist be applied quite early in the 

 s])ring, at least six or eight weeks before the apple bmls are due to 

 burst, as the moths come out very early, sometimes even during 

 warm spells in the winter. 



The methods of control given above are equally ajiplicable to the 

 fall canker-worm, except that in the use of bands to prevent the 

 ascent of moths these must be applied in early fall, since the moths of 

 this species oviposit mostly during that season. 



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