288 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



Besides the mottled umber moth there are a number of the genus Hybernia, 

 which as caterpillars are frequently destructive to the foliage and fruit of cultivated 

 trees. All the females are wingless, and the larvae "loopers." The pupae are not 

 so deeply embedded in the soil as those of the winter moth, but they are deeper in 

 cultivated ground than in orchards in grass ; hence eating this bare in late summer 

 and early autumn by sheep proves destructive of pupae. Dressings of salt, 5 cwt. 

 per acre, watering with ammoniacal gas liquor, diluted with six times the bulk of 

 water; and kainit, 2 cwt. per acre, have all proved useful applications. Gas lime 

 sprinkled over the ground from the stem outwards beyond the spread of the trees has 

 been found beneficial, but great care is required, for the gas lime injures or kills all the 

 roots it comes in contact with. Infestations of mottled umber and other Hybernia 

 species are successfully met by the means detailed under " Winter Moth." 



Pale Brindled Beauty Moth (Hybernia (Amphidasis, Geometra) polosaria) ; March 

 Moth (Anisopteryx ascularia, Schiff) (Miss A. E. Ormerod). " Pale Brindled Beauty 

 Moth appears in March; eggs deposited in bands round a twig, as done by the 

 lackey moth. Caterpillars appear with the opening leaves of the elm, lime, lilac, and 

 apple tree. They are, at first, a light green " (Johnson's Gardeners' Dictionary, p. 375.) 

 Male winged, about If inch in expanse, brown with darker bars ; female wingless, 

 pale brown, coated with grey silky down. The eggs are placed in parallel lines around, 

 but not always encircling, a shoot of the preceding year, firmly attached to the growth, 

 and embedded in down. Their number varies from a few to many in a band, 

 sometimes reaching over 500. The " loopers " become darker and brighter with 

 age, having a light line along the side, and yellow beneath. They are general 

 feeders, with a partiality for plum trees. Like the rest of the genus Hybernia, the 

 caterpillars leave the trees and turn to pupae on or in the ground, forming a sort 

 of web-like cocoon. 



The eggs are easily crushed with a garden knife. In bad infestations the shoots 

 or twigs containing the bands of eggs may be cut off and burnt, examination being 

 made of the trees from the middle of March to the end of April. In other respects 

 the treatment should be the same as for winter moths. 



Winter Moth (Cheimatobia brumata). This (Fig. 91) is one of the most destructive 

 insects the fruit grower has to combat, its caterpillar preying on the expanding buds, 

 flowers, and foliage of apple, cherry, pear, plum, and other fruit trees. 



The male moth is well provided with wings, measuring about 1| inch across; but 



