19 



very conspicuous, being sometimes white, sometimes blue, 

 and iridescent. By this time the suckers have become bright 

 green in colour, and rudiments of wings can be seen 

 (Fig. 3). In the succeeding moults the wing rudiments be- 

 come more conspicuous, and finally, four to six weeks from 

 the date of hatching, the adult winged suckers appear 

 (Fig. 4). 



The adult suckers live on the apple trees throughout the 

 summer, but do not lay eggs until the autumn. In 

 September, egg-laying begins, and may continue until 

 November, when the adults die. The eggs then remain 

 until the following spring, when they give rise to a further 

 generation. 



Methods of Control. There are three methods of dealing 

 with the Apple Sucker, the first two being those usually 

 employed. 



(1) The trees are sprayed with lime-wash about the time 

 when the buds begin to swell; if necessary the spraying may 

 be continued until within about a week of the bursting of the 

 blossom. It is sometimes thought that late lime- washing 

 may injure the young leaves and blossom buds, but the 

 injury, if it occurs, is unimportant, and the results as regards 

 insects are more satisfactory than when the work is done 

 too early. The lime-wash forms a coating over the twigs, 

 which tends to seal up the eggs just when they are about to 

 hatch, and also to kill any young suckers which may already 

 have appeared. The work must therefore be done thoroughly, 

 so that the twigs and branches are well coated with lime. 

 The following is a formula for making lime-wash: 



Best Quick Lime (in lumps) . . . 10-15 Ib. 

 Water 10 gal. 



Only the best stone quick lime should be used, ordinary 

 builder's lime is often impure and partially air slacked. In 

 making the wash a small quantity of water should first be 

 poured into the lime to slake it; the remainder of the water 

 should then be added, and after a thorough stirring, the wash 

 should be carefully strained into the machine. 



(2) The trees are sprayed with a contact insecticide shortly 

 before the blossoms open (Fig. 5), a nozzle with a rather coarse 

 jet being used for the purpose, so as to get a driving spray. 

 Occasionally, the newly-hatched suckers may be found some- 

 what earlier in large numbers on the unexpanded leaf buds, 

 and in this case they are specially amenable to treatment 

 by spraying. The best contact insecticide is nicotine and 



