42 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



tree, and in June or July spin a soft greyish cocoon between the leaves, in the forks of 

 the branches and in crevices, and become chrysalids, from which the moths emerge in a 

 few weeks. Treatment for their larvae should be directed to the destruction of the 

 nests in their early stages. 



Garden Chafer (Phyllopertha horticola). This beetle is -f- of an inch long, and ^ of 

 an inch broad. Its wing-cases are reddish brown, shining, and shorter than the body ; 

 abdomen and head dark green or blue-black, with long, erect, paler hairs on some parts ; 

 antenna3 reddish, with a shining, green club at their ends. The beetle feeds on the leaves 

 of the apple and other fruit trees, gnawing them full of small holes, but it does most harm 

 by devouring the stamens and petals of the blossom. The female enters the soil at the 

 end of July and deposits her eggs a few inches below the surface, placing them in heaps 

 containing eighty and ninety. They hatch in a fortnight, and the grubs feed on tender 

 roots, becoming full-siaed in two to three and a half years, and then are dirty white, 

 with brown heads and blackish tails. The larva then takes the pupa form, passes the 

 winter, and the perfect garden chafer emerges in spring, when the starlings are ready to 

 receive it. Starlings are the very best destroyers of the beetles. There may also be 

 captured by spreading cloths under the trees and shaking the latter sharply at night, 

 when the beetles fall, feign death, and can be destroyed. Rooks and (near the coast) 

 sea gulls use their strong beaks effectively in unearthing the grubs ; tame ones may be 

 utilised in gardens. Ammoniacal liquor from the gasworks, diluted with not less than 

 three times its bulk of water, may be employed in grass orchards, distributing in autumn 

 with a liquid-manure cart. Turning over ground that has been mulched exposes the 

 grubs, as they come near the surface to feed on the roots encouraged by the rich soil, 

 and should be picked out. Gas-lime kills the grubs, but it must not be used over the 

 roots of fruit trees. A dressing of soot, 40 bushels, in March, and 2 cwt. of nitrate of 

 soda per acre, a month later, have a good effect on larva? and trees, especially poverty- 

 stricken orchards on grass. Bare ground may be sown with rape, and when there is a 

 good crop turn it under by spade or plough. This is useful on ground infested with 

 larva?, and in course of preparation for planting with fruit trees, especially bush fruits 

 and strawberries. 



Apple-tree Blister Moth (Tinea corticella). This minute moth appears in May and 

 June, and deposits its eggs on the stubby shoots and spurs. The larva? emerge from the 

 eggs in a few days, penetrate beneath the bark and cause brownish blisters. They live 

 on the substance between the bark and wood, and in September the grub lets itself down 



