65 



There are many preventive measures which may be applied to the 

 orchard when it is in bearing. 



It is a well-known fact that an orchard which produces a moderate 

 crop each year is much more profitable than one which produces an 

 abnormally large crop one season and a very small one the next. B}' 

 thinning- each year this alternation ma}' be prevented to some extent. 



The writer is very strongly of the opinion that if thinning is done 

 when the larva^ of the first generation are in the fruit, and the fruit 

 and larva> destroyed, the advantages thereb}' gained are suflicient to 

 compensate for the expense of thinning. 



It is easy to see how the destruction of part of the first generation 

 will prevent much of the injury due to the second generation, which is 

 about ten, times that by the first generation. It is difiicult for the 

 orchardist to determine by ol)serving the entrance holes a))oiit what 

 time the insects are inside the fruit. In thinning, all terminal clusters 

 should be reduced to one fruit, and none should be allowed to grow 

 closer together than from -i to 6 inches. During the process of thin- 

 ning, with but little increased expenditure of time or money, the 

 wormy fruits can be removed and the perfect left on the tree. 



Throughout the season a large number of fruits will drop from the 

 tree to the ground. Upon examination it will be found that under 

 normal conditions the larger percentage of these are the result of the 

 work of the codling moth. The percentage varies, however, with 

 many conditions. If a tree is heavily loaded, a large lumiber of good 

 fruits will ])e pushed off b}'^ those adjoining, and the wind will cause 

 many to fall. The quantity of windfalls increases throughout the 

 season. 



The percentage of the larva? to be found inside the worm}^ fruit 

 varies with the time of the 3'ear. In the Pacific Northwest the 

 latter part of June and the first part of July and the latter part of 

 August are the times when the largest number of larva? are' found 

 inside the wormy windfalls. In a small orchard these windfalls can 

 be destroyed by allowing hogs to run at large in the orchard and eat 

 the fallen apples; or the windfalls may be picked up every few days 

 and either made into cider or destroyed. In a large commercial 

 orchard, however, it is not probable that the expense of keeping the 

 ground clear of windfalls would be justified by the benefits derived, 

 although such benefits would undoubtedl}^ be great. 



PKEPARING FRUIT FOR THE MARKET. 



The method of packing which is now coming into use is to pack the 

 fruit jn the orchard, u.-.ing packing tables built upon runners. These 

 are hauled down a row, stopping at intervals. Two rows are picked 

 on either side of the table, and the fruit is carried from the trees to 

 the tables b}^ the pickers. The fruit is there graded and packed, and 

 6514— No. 41—03 5 



