88 HORTICULTURE BY IRRIGATION. 



CUT- WORMS (Agrotians). 



Several species of these worms are injurious. The moths are dingy 

 in color, and fly mostly at night. The worms generally feed at night ; 

 some, however, feed during broad daylight, partially concealed by the 

 dense foliage of the plants attacked. An undetermined species was 

 alarmingly destructive during the summer of 1887, feeding with equal 

 avidity upon the foliage of the herb, and the unripened fruit of the to- 

 mato. 



For the species that feed at night, the only effective remedy is the 

 one recommended by Dr. Riley, which is to poison with Paris green suc- 

 culent vegetation, and place on the ground at the base of the plant at- 

 tacked. As against the species -feed ing in daytime, the kerosene emulsion 

 is very effective, observing, in the case of plants with very tender foliage, not 

 to apply too strong. Where the cabbage is attacked late in summer, no 

 application of remedies to the foliage will be of the least avail. When 

 clover and alfalfa fields are attacked, a good irrigation is very effective. 



THE CURRANT BORER (Aegeria Tipuliformis). 



This is an imported insect very destructive in Colorado. It also 

 attacks the gooseberry, though less frequently. Its color is blue, with 

 yellow bands, resembling a wasp, but really belonging to a Lepidopterous 

 family of borers. The moths appear in June, laying their eggs upon 

 sterns of the current season's growth, near the base of a bud, which soon 

 hatch, the caterpillar soon eating its way to the pith, where it remains a 

 year, emerging the following season as a moth. The yellowish, unthrifty 

 character of the foliage indicates the presence of the borer. The affected 

 stems should be pruned off in the early spring and burned. It is the only 

 effective remedy. The pruning, too, will insure a more thrifty growth, 

 much larger fruit, and of better quality. 



THE CODLING MOTH (Carpocapsa Pomonellu}. 



This insect is, without doubt, the worst enemy of the apple. It 

 makes its appearance early in spring, about the time the apple trees are 

 in blossom, and commences laying its eggs, usually one on the blossom or 

 calyx end of each apple as soon as the fruit is set. The eggs hatch in 

 from five to ten days, on which the young worm eats its way to the center 

 of the fruit, where it remains twenty to thirty days. It then leaves the 

 apple and seeks some secure hiding place, usually the rough bark of the 



