The CanacUafi Hortiiiilturist. 



71 



THE APPLE MAGGOT. 



Bv L. F. AiiHOTT, Lr.wisTON, Ma'isk, I'.S.A 



IN tlic January nuinl)er of tlie Hor- 

 ticulturist, * in your remarks 

 upon the Trypcta Pomonclla, you 

 speak of allowing sheep and hogs the 

 run of the orchard to help destroy 

 this pest ; and also say that the 

 worms leave the apple and burrow 

 in the ground before passing to the 

 proper stage. My observations re- 

 garding this insect have led me to 

 think that but very few apples fall 

 from the trees as a result of the 

 presence of the apple maggots. We 

 find both insects, the Codling Worm 

 and the maggot, infesting the same 

 specimens of fruit. As a result of 

 the presence of the former, many 

 apples come to the ground, and hence 

 your advice, to give the sheep and 

 hogs — particularly the former— the 

 run of the orchard as late as prac- 

 ticable before harvesting the apples, 

 is always in order, for, doubtless, 

 many of both species of insects would 

 be destroyed, though it is pretty well 

 established that a majority of the Cod- 

 ling Worms ^leave the apples before 

 they fall. But I believe the chances 

 are, that larger numbers of the Try- 

 petas than of the Codling ^^'orm 

 would be destroyed by the animals, 

 from the circumstances, which my 

 observations have shown to be the 

 fact, that a part, at least, of these 

 maggots pupate in their burrows 

 within the apples they infest. 1 

 have several times had specimens 

 thus change in confinement, usually 



about one half remaining within the 

 apple, the remainder crawling out 

 and into a corner of the box in 

 which they were confined. 



Frequently I have found speci- 

 mens of the maggot in pupa form 

 in apples in winter when brought 

 from the cellar. All of which goes 

 to show that, like the Codling Worms, 

 many leave the apple to pupate, 

 and a portion remain in the fruit 

 later — perhaps a later crop of worms. 



I am in hopes the use of arsenical 

 insecticides upon our orchards is 

 going to be the means of staying the 

 progress of the Tr\peta as well as of 

 the Codling Worms. Very few 

 of our Maine orchardists have the 

 courage to spray their trees with 

 London purple or Paris green, but a 

 few, like Mr. Pape, President of the 

 Maine Pomological Society, and a 

 ew other prominent and progressive 

 orchardists, have done so, and with 

 the best results. If spared till 

 another season, I propose to experi- 

 ment in this line and carefully note 

 results. 



Mr. P. M. Augur, of Connecticut, 

 stated, at the Winter meeting of our 

 State Pomological Society, that in 

 the season of 1887, orchards sprayed 

 with Paris green for the Codling 

 Worms were remarkabl) free from 

 the ravages of the Trypeta. May 

 we not hope that this will prove the 

 sovereign remedy for both these pests 

 of the orchard. 



