1900] GOnSEBF.RRY. 101 



driving their suckers into the stems of the blossom-buds, and drawing 

 away the juices, thus sapping their strength, so that the buds shrivel 

 before expansion, and no Apples are produced. 



Various methods of dealing with the attack have been suggested, 

 but none have been brought forward of such a serviceable nature as 

 this of the soft-soap spraying lately contributed (see p. 99) by Mr. 

 Wise. This is especially adapted to the peculiar habits of the Chermes 

 of working amongst the stalks of the cluster of Apple buds, sometimes 

 especially amongst tliose of the middle blooms of the truss, where they 

 cause complete destruction. 



Of course, the broadscale application of steam spraying apparatus 

 is only available in a very moderate proportion of cases ; but now that 

 we have such trustworthy information of the serviceableness of the 

 remedy, it is much to be desired that, as circumstances require, it 

 should be applied as by horse or hand-sprayers when presence of the 

 " Apple-suckers " is noticed. 



For observations on the above attack, see my Annual Reports for 

 1890 and 1891, and ' Handbook of Orchard and Bush Fruits.' 



GOOSEBEREY. 

 Gooseberry and Currant Sawfly. Nematus ribesii, Cameron. 



Attack of Gooseberry Sawfly is mentioned again, as in the past 

 season the caterpillars appeared in extraordinary numbers in the 

 neighbourhood of Tarporley, Cheshire, and many thousands of them 

 were cleared by hand-picking. 



The caterpillars are distinguishable from those of the Gooseberry 

 and Currant or Magpie Moth (which are almost equally destructive to 

 leafage) by being green, with black heads, and little black spots on 

 their bodies when young, and when full grown they are an inch long, 

 and green, with the segment next tbe head and a little of the next 

 one orange-coloured, as are also the tail segments, but with a large 

 black mark above, with smaller dots at the side ; also by possessing, 

 besides a pair of black claw-feet on each of the segments next the head, 

 six pairs of sucker-feet beneath the body, and another pair beneath 

 the tail, making twenty pairs in all. 



By the above characteristics they may be easily known from the 

 caterpillars of the Gooseberry Moth, Abraxas grossulariata, which are 

 usually of a creamy or yellowish colour, with a row of transverse 

 squarish black or dark markings along the back, other lines of little 

 or larger black spots below ; along the sides of the caterpillars and 

 beneath the two highest of these rows of spots is an orange or red stripe. 



