94 PLANT LIFE. 



accumulated, and finally passes the winter on the bark 

 of the tree. 



Even when the apple has escaped these enemies, and 

 is nearly ripe, it is still exposed to the ravages of the 

 Codlin Moth, a little grey inconspicuous insect that lays 

 an ^g^ in the centre of the withered flower, which 

 happens to be just the weak spot of this particular 

 fruit. A caterpillar developed from this o.^^ eats down 

 the style to the core : it devours the seeds, and then 

 eats its way out through the flesh. After reaching the 

 outside, it lets itself down from the tree by means of a 

 silk thread, and hides itself in the bark or in any other 

 convenient shelter. It then becomes a chrysalis, and 

 emerges next spring as a fully developed Codlin Moth. 

 One of these moths can infect 50 apples. 



Nor are the roots free from enemies. The soil is 

 inhabited by grubs of many kinds such as those of the 

 Daddy -Long-legs, of the Cockchafei% and of the Wire 

 Worm. Mice, rats, and voles also attack the roots of 

 apple-trees as they do the roots of other sorts of plants. 



The apple being a cultivated plant is protected 

 from many of the enemies which attack wild species. 

 Roedeer, cattle, sheep, rabbits and hares, often tear or 

 nibble off the bark or leaves. In hard winters, rabbits 

 will attack the bark of almost every shrub except 

 perhaps the Snowberry {Symphoricarpus) and the com- 

 mon Rhododendron. Wild boars root up and devour all 

 fleshy roots and bulbs. The goat and camel are also 

 particularly destructive to vegetation, and are sup- 

 posed to have totally altered the character of the 

 vegetation in Egypt and other places. 



So far no mention has been made of the fungi, 

 but each ^species of plant has its own particular 

 fungus enemy. Cultivated plants whose constitu- 



