8o STATE PO^[OLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



TREATMENT OR APPLICATION OF INSECTICIDES. 



Tlic hud moth: This is the insect that is largely responsible 

 for the gnarled and distorted growth of many of our apple trees, 

 particularly in old orchards. This insect hibernates as a partially 

 grown caterpillar which, \\\t\\ the advent of spring, seeks out and 

 destroys the unfolding buds, frequently the terminal ones. At 

 the completion of the caterpillar stage it transforms within a leaf 

 and soon gives rise to a small brown moth which later deposits 

 eggs upon the apple leaves. B>om these eggs, tiny caterpillars 

 develop and feed upon the leaves, becoming about half grown at 

 the time the leaves fall. Then these insects prepare for hiberna- 

 tion on the twigs, covering themselves with a silken cocoon, and 

 so pass the winter, emerging to attack the buds in the spring, 

 as did their predecessors. Where this insect is present in 

 orchards, a thorough spraying with arsenate of lead, applied 

 before the leaves unfold in the spring, will prove an excellent 

 remedy. 



Soon after the time of blossoming, the codling moth — a tiny 

 brown moth — is on the wing in nearly all our apple orchards. 

 This moth was formerly thought to deposit its eggs in the cal;.'x 

 end of the apple, but recent researches by Slingerland and Card 

 have shown that the eggs may be deposited on any part of the 

 apple and sometimes on the leaves. However, it seems evident 

 that the young larvae, hatching from the eggs, enter the apple 

 from the calyx end. They feed therein until mid-summer or 

 later, and as a result, produce the wormy apples which are par- 

 ticularly abundant in every neglected orchard. The transforma- 

 tions between the larval and moth stages are passed in tiny 

 cocoons spun on the trunks or branches of the trees. This 

 insect, to my mind, is one of the most serious pests with which 

 the orchardist has to deal. The financial loss caused by it is 

 enormous and continuous. The codling moth may l)e effectually 

 controlled by a liberal use of arsenical spray, thoroughly applied 

 after the petals have fallen from the blossoms. It is unwise to 

 spray trees in blossom as many bees and other insects useful in 

 pollenizing the flowers may be killed. Several years ago. 

 Professor Webster ascertained that not only were bees killed by 

 taking honey from trees sprayed while in blossom, but also that 



