1877.] ESSAY ON THE APPLE. 9 



the tree ia the mouth of June. Instinct seems to direct the deposit of 

 the eggs where the bark is moist and soft, the worm soon comes from 

 the egg and perforates the bark; making a small hole it finds its susten- 

 ance beneath the bark, at the same time making a circuitous apperture. 

 If trees are examined early in the months of August or September, their 

 hiding place may at once be detected by a slight discoloration of the 

 bark, an increase of moisture, and by their castings being thrust outside, 

 which appear like fine sawdust; and it is by this that their presence in ' 

 the tree is most readily recognized. At this stage of their growth they 

 are easily cut out with the point of a knife; but if neglected they work 

 their way into the sap wood and can only be removed by a flexible copper 

 or iron wire, and they are with considerable difficulty reached even with a 

 wire, if too long neglected. 



There are also insects which feed upon the leaf of the apple tree; 

 hereabout the tent caterpillars are most numerous and destructive. For- 

 tunately the habit of these insects render them so conspicuous that their 

 destruction in the early stages of their existence is easily accomplished 

 The female lays her eggs in June or July, arranging them in the form of 

 a broad ring, on the twigs near the extremity of the branches; they are 

 protected by a coating substance apparently water and weather proof, and 

 which is eaten by the young worms when first hatched. The eggs thus 

 deposited remain until the next spring when they commence hatching, 

 about the same time that the buds begin to expand, but seldom all the eggs 

 are hatched at once; if cold days intervene they do not hatch until 

 warm days return. By the cold storm which occurred in 1876 nearly all 

 the tent caterpillars were destroyed soon after being hatched, but when a 

 season favors them, which is usually the case, they come forth in vast 

 numbers, and their great voracity strips the trees of their foliage and is 

 of serious consequence to the orchard. Soon after the worms are hatched 

 they commence feeding upon the young and succulent leaf, and unite in 

 their efforts to form a web to protect them from the weather; at this 

 stage they are conspicuous enough to be easily seen, and when in their 

 tent are readily destroyed en masse; and no orchardist can afford to ne- 

 glect to destroy a worm, at once so destructive and unsightly. 



The canker worm has sometimes overrun some of the orchards in the 

 county, and they have often counteracted the injurious depredations of 

 the codling moth, by cutting off the supply of fruit, thereby starving 

 them out; therefore it would sometimes seem that insect can more effec- 

 tually contend with insect than the fruit-grower does. 



The Codling Moth and the Curculio, are most destructive to the ap- 

 ple; often rendering the bulk of the crop unmerchantable by their dep- 

 redations; and thus far they have had almost undisputed sway. But few 



