420 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



caked, but it was easily broken up, and 

 then appeared almost like flour. We should 

 suppose, therefore, that the fruits would be 

 air-tight under such conditions, and this 

 will account for the fact that as we saw 

 them they were perfectly sound, and in 

 excellent condition, although five months 

 had elapsed since they were packed in the 

 boxes. The apples were gathered and 

 packed previous to May 5 last, but owing 

 to some objection, we believe, on the part 

 of the steamship companies, there was a 

 delay of two months or more before ship- 

 ment, and even then they travelled by the 

 Cape route. The new system, should it 

 answer to expectations, will possess several 



advantages. The fruit may then be stored 

 in the hold of the ship and the freight per 

 bushel case will be 6d. instead of 3s. Qd. ; 

 but as the packing material will displace a 

 quantity of the fruits in each package, it 

 may be well for present purposes to de- 

 scribe the future freight of the fruit as is. 

 per bushel. 



It must be remembered also that the 

 asbestos is a valuable material in England, 

 and it will be sold to as much advantage 

 as will the apples. The result will be that 

 the asbestos and fruit will be brought to 

 England for less money than is now paid 

 for the fruits alone. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



A BAD INSECT PEST. 



One of the worst pests that the apple 

 grower has to fight is the railroad worm, 

 called also the pulp worm, and the apple 

 maggot. The fruit growers of Vermont are 

 unanimous in giving this insect the first rank 

 among their insect enemies. 



It is worse even than the tent caterpillar. 

 That can be entirely overcome by spraying, 

 whereas spraying has no eflfect on the rail- 

 road worm. 



The railroad worm, or apple maggot, is 

 the cause of the pulpy, punky condition of 

 the apples as we find them now in the stored 

 fruit and in that offered for sale. The eggs 

 are laid just under the skin of the apple by a 

 small fly. This fly begins her work in June 

 and keeps it up pretty much all summer, so 

 that there may be worms of all ages in the 

 apples. She has a strong preference for 

 sweet apples, and has practically ruined the 



crop of Talmans this year. Still she works 

 in all varieties, sour as well as sweet, and 

 causes hundreds of dollars' loss to the fruit 

 grower. 



We have consulted the authorities at the 

 Vermont experiment station, and they frank- 

 ly admit that no satisfactory way of dealing 

 with it has been discovered. They say that 

 considerable good can be accomplished by 

 keeping hogs or sheep in the orchard to pick 

 up the windfalls. These windfalls are usu- 

 ally full of apple maggots, and the hogs 

 digest them out of existence. 



Experiments are being made at various 

 places in the United States, and we hope 

 eventually to know some more effective way 

 of dealing with this pest. But for the pre- 

 sent we must rely on the practice of des- 

 troying the windfalls. 



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