OUR RIVALS 139 



coal ashes than so many bags of high grade and 

 costly, but lauded, material from the factories. 



Lately a new rival of ours has appeared, and so 

 far we are unable to cope with it; at least none of the 

 preventives and remedies that I have named will do 

 the work. It is just a fly; we call it the trypeta fly. 

 In Massachusetts you will hear its work, done in the 

 larval state, described as railroading. The larva is 

 very minute and is very deliberate about putting in 

 its work. The fly works all summer, while the cod- 

 ling moth works only in the spring. Sometimes the 

 eggs do not hatch until your apples are in the bins 

 for the winter. If the cellar is warm they will do 

 their work even in January, and gutter your Jona- 

 thans and sometimes your Spitzenburgs ruinously. 

 The skin of the apple remains fair, but at heart you 

 will find nothing but a black mass. 



The fly has its favorite varieties to work in, so that 

 some of our fine old summer fruits, like Sweet Bough 

 and Golden Sweet, are practically banished from the 

 orchard. I have not seen a thoroughly clean Sweet 

 Bough for ten years. This fly so far has the best of 

 us. Spraying does not touch the larva, for the egg 

 is laid through a puncture in the skin of half-grown 

 fruit. We can only pick up the infected apples and 

 roast them or soak them in poisonous water. We 

 do well to grow our trees in the open, where bright 

 sunshine makes it disagreeable for our rival. 



Cicero ended all his speeches with Delenda est 

 Carthago " Carthage must be destroyed." I feel 



