'J'> GARDEN FOES. 



CHAPTER VIL 



PEAR PESTS. 



A INSECTS. 



Pear-Leaf Blister Mite (Eriophyes pyri).— Tlu^ 

 leaves of pear trees are sometimes covered with blister- 

 like spots, slightly raised upon the upper and uniler sur- 

 facers. These spots are red or green in the earlier stages 

 of their formation, and black or brown later on. To dis- 

 tinguish between these blisters and the scabs formed by 

 the Pear Scab fungus cut one of the blisters open and 

 examine it with a magm'fying-glass. If within are seen a 

 number of tsmall mites, then it may be taken for granted 

 that the leaf is infested with the Pear-leaf Blister Mite. 

 The mites live within the scales of the leaf-buds during 

 the winter; early in spring they come forth, puncture the 

 epidermis of the leaves, and deposit within their eggs. 

 When the young are hatched they come forth, pierce the 

 epidermis, and lay more eggs; and so the pi'ocess goes on 

 of egg-laying and covering the entire surface of the leaves 

 with minute galls. 



IIemedies. — Spraying the })ear trees in February with 

 Eormuhr Nos. 1 or 8 is one of the best remedies, as this will 

 destroy the mites ensconced in the scalcts of the buds, and 

 prevent them coming forth in the spring and depositing 

 their eggs in the leaves. Fallen leaves should, as far as 

 possible, be raked up and burnt. 



Pear-Leaf Blister Moth (Cemiostoma scitella). — A 

 minute moth, the parent of small pale-green caterpillars, 

 which feed on the soft tissues of the leaves of pear«, 

 apples, and cherries during summea', and cause dark brown 



