190 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



3-4 EDVMRD VII., A. 1904 



small brovTH caterpillars upon them, and, should tliey find any, to be prepared to spray 

 their orchards thoroughly, just at the tir^e the buds are bursting, with a poisoned 

 Bordeaux mixture, this being the remedy, — of many which have been tried, — which 

 has given the best results. This mixture, made according to the formula which we use 

 at the Experimental Farm, is as follows: — 



Copper sulphate (bluestone) 4 lbs. 



Unslaked lime 4 lbs. 



Paris green (for Bud-moth and other leaf -eating insects) . . 8 oz. 



Water (one barrel) 40 gals. 



Dissolve the copper sulphate by suspending it inside a cotton bag in a wooden or 

 earthen vessel containing five or more gallons of water. Slake the lime in another 

 vessel, and then strain the lime wash through coarse sacking or a fine sieve. Pour 

 the copper sulphate solution into a barrel, or it may be dissolved in this in the first 

 place, and fill the barrel with water. Stir thoroughly before using. A stock solu- 

 tion of copper sulphate, and lime wash may be prepared and kept in separate covered 

 barrels through the spraying season; but the quantities of copper sulphate and lime 

 in the solutions should be carefully noted, so that the proper strength may be used 

 when a wash is required for spraying. 



The caterpillars of the Eye-spotted Bud-moth pass the winter on the twigs of 

 treesv, upon the foliage of which the eggs had been laid the previous summer. Each 

 caterpillar is snugly curled up inside a small silken tent or covering called a 

 pseudo-cocoon. These are extremely difficult to find until their appearance 

 is known. They are located, as a rule, right in the crotch between two twigs, 

 or in any small depression on a fruit spur. In many instances, I have found 

 that a small piece of leaf or of lichen, is attached to the outside. On opening tiiese 

 with the tip of a knife, the small brown black-headed caterpillar, one-eighth of an 

 inch in length, will be found inside. These caterpillars when they go into winter 

 quarters are less than half-grown, having passed through three or four of their six 

 moults. Early in spring, just before the time that the leaf buds burst, they emerge 

 from their shelters and attack the opening leaf and flower buds. They do a great 

 deal of harm at this time because they not only devour the young leaves but a single 

 caterpillar will destroy a whole cluster of flowers. Their injuTies are severe, both 

 upon young trees and also upon full-grown bearing trees, which in some instances 

 have been stripped of almost every bunch of flowers. These caterpillars become full- 

 grown during June and then spin cocoons among the dead leaves which they have 

 injured. The small gray and white moths appear during the month of July. These 

 moths are similar in shape and size to the Codling Moth but are of a- general dark 

 gray colour, blotched with white, which makes them very inconspicuous when they 

 are at rest on the trunks of trees. They measure about three-fifths of an inch across 

 the opened wings and may be recognized by an eye-like spot upon each of the fore 

 wings. The moths appear from June to the middle of July ; they rest on the trees 

 during the day time but are very active at night, flying about fruit trees and laying 

 their eggs upon the leaves. The eggs are remarkable little objects which lie very flat 

 upon the leaf on which they are deposited. Under a magnifying glass, they have 

 more the appearance of minute drops of water, or of tiny fishes' scales than of the eggs 

 of an insect. Ten days after the eggs are laid, the young caterpillars hatch, and 

 their habits during the summer are quite different from those of the spring. As soon 

 as the caterpillars hatch, they crawl to the middle of the lower side of the leaf and 

 form a sill^en tube close to the midrib of one of the larger veins. Here they feed upon 

 the tissues of the lower side of the leaf, leaving the network of veins and the upper 

 surface of the leaf. As they extend their operations, they cover themselves with a light 

 tent of silk. They grow slowly, remaining for eight or ten weeks on the same leaf 

 where they were born ; they then stop feeding and crawl from the leaves to a con- 



