1020 



THE FRUIT INDUSTRY IN NEW YORK STATE 



deformed and undersized. The damage is done by the nymphs 

 that make their appearance during the period when the trees are 

 coming into blossom and until pollination is completed when the 

 young fruits are the size of filberts. A single nymph may stab a 

 pear many times, and while the initial 

 wounds are at first slight and seemingly 

 inconsequential, they nevertheless produce 

 a disfiguration that becomes increasingly 

 prominent as the fruit increases in size. 

 All the leading sorts of pears are subject to 

 injury. 



Treatment Spray the trees with three- 

 fourths of a pint of nicotine solution (40 

 per cent) to one hundred gallons of water, 

 to which is added three pounds of soap to 

 cause the liquid to stick and spread better. 

 The application should be made just after 

 the blossoming period or when petals are 

 falling. 



The Pear Midge 



The pear rnidge, Contarinia pyrivora 

 Riley, causes young pears to become 

 stunted and deformed. The identity of the 

 species is readily recognized by cutting into 



a young affected fruit, when tiny maggots will be observed working 

 in and around the core. Eggs are laid by a tiny midge in the 

 interior of the unopened blossom. On hatching the young larvae 

 work their way to the ovary, and feed about the core. After com- 

 pleting its growth, the maggot abandons the fruit and enters the 

 ground, where it remains until the following spring. 



Treatment. No satisfactory means for the prevention of losses 

 to the crop have been devised, and it is fortunate that the insect 

 is of rather local importance. For the protection of a few trees 

 it is desirable to collect and destroy by the middle of May all 

 infested fruits, which may be distinguished by their size and 

 shape. For commercial plantings the only recourse is frequent 

 and thorough cultivation during June and July. 



its 



FIG. 305. THE FALSE 

 TARNISHED PLANT 

 BUG : NYMPH PUNC- 

 TURING A YOUNG 

 PEAR 



