16 



Methods of Control. From the above account of the life- 

 history it will be clear that the Apple Blossom Weevil is at 

 no time really susceptible to those measures usually employed 

 against orchard pests. The insect when young is protected 

 within the " capped blossom "; when adult it appears to feed 

 little or at all events, not in such a manner as to make a 

 lead arsenate spray of much use. It spends the winter in 

 various places, always well concealed, and winter treatment 

 cannot be wholly effective. 



(1) Nevertheless, in most orchards something, and in many, 

 much, can be done in winter. In the first place, if the trees 

 are mossy and the trunks encrusted with loose bark many 

 weevils will hibernate on the trees and a winter wash, or later 

 a lime wash, will destroy many of them; recent reports tend 

 to show that late lime-washing is fairly successful against the 

 weevil. The burning of all rubbish and the cleaning of hedge 

 bottoms and ditches will also be helpful, as will the cultivation 

 of the ground underneath the trees. 



(2) In Prance it has been found practicable to reduce the 

 numbers of the beetles by shaking them off the trees just be- 

 fore they lay their eggs. A large sheet is spread under the 

 tree which is shaken or tapped with a stick, and the beetles 

 which fall down are tipped into a pail containing a little 

 paraffin. 



(3) In small orchards or where the trees are young it is 

 worth collecting the capped blossom by hand before the beetles 

 emerge. 



(4) In connection with this hand picking, the possibility 

 of increasing the number of ichneumon parasites is worth 

 consideration. If the collected " capped blossom " be placed 

 in the orchard in a box with a muslin cover of a certain mesh 

 (about 1/32 inch) the weevils will be 1 imprisoned while the 

 ichneumons will be able to escape. It has already been pointed 

 out that the ichneumon is an efficient enemy of the weevil, 

 destroying 25 per cent, and if capped blossoms could be col- 

 lected over a wide area and the ichneumons released, this 

 percentage might be considerably increased. In France results 

 obtained by this method are said to have been distinctly hopeful. 



(5) The weevils seek winter quarters fairly early in the 

 summer and they may then be trapped by means of bands of 

 sacking tied round the trunks of the trees as for Codling 

 Moths. The band should be in a position by the beginning 

 of June and should be removed and be burned in the autumn. 

 This method of control may prove of more value than has 

 hitherto been supposed. 



(6) Apart from winter washing, no spray has yet been 

 proved to be of much use and spraying should only be tried 

 experimentally. 



