A PPL ES EXEMIES. 43 



to the ground, spins a cocoon on a fallen leaf, and becomes a chrysalis, from which the 

 moth emerges early in summer. The larva) cause the spurs and growths infested to 

 have a sickly appearance, and they usually collapse in winter. 



All dead leaves should be removed in autumn, and burned, pointing the ground over, 

 and giving a surface dressing of short manure. Washing the trees with soapsuds when 

 the fruit is set, hinders egg-laying, and that is the best method to adopt. 



Goat Moth (Cossus ligniperda), Willow and poplar trees are the favourite food of 

 the caterpillar of this moth, but apple and other fruit trees suffer from its attacks, par- 

 ticularly young trees growing in alluvial soils in low situations, probably due to the 

 trees having soft wood and large pith. The caterpillar is the largest produced by any 

 moth in this country, measuring when full-grown 4 inches long and having the thickness 

 of the little finger. Its odour is so powerful and foetid that its presence in a stem is 

 easily detected. The body of the caterpillar is smooth, except a few scattered hairs ; 

 back and spiracles (breathing apertures) dark red, and head black. It has strong jaws, 

 and can cut through the hardest wood. The moth's forewings are ashy-brown> and 

 measure 3 inches across, hind wings brown and reticulated, and when the wings are 

 folded the moth is difficult to espy on a branch in the day-time. The female secures 

 her eggs well in the bark by means of her powerful ovipositor, or in crevices of 

 rough bark down to living substance, so that the larva has nothing to do when hatched 

 but eat away to the heart of the tree. Prevention is best effected by capturing the 

 moths. Where willows, poplars, and elms abound, and they are infested with goat 

 moth larvse, the stems of fruit trees should be coated, early in June, with a mixture 

 of clay, cow-dung, and tobacco juice, forming into a cream, and applying with a brush, 

 to prevent egg-laying. If" the trees are sprayed at the same time with the petroleum 

 emulsion the moth's loathing of such nesting-places is complete. 



To destroy the caterpillar, a wire may be thrust into the hole in the stem ; if this 

 is done when the castings are first made, it may be reached. Sulphur fumes kill them 

 in their furrows. The nozzle of a fumigator should be held over the hole, and a damp 

 cloth placed around it and held tight by one person, whilst another drives in the deadly 

 fumes. Similar measures may be resorted to for destroying the caterpillars of the 

 Leopard Moth (Zeuzera JEsculi). 



Apple-borer (Saperda bivittata). The beetle is about | an inch long, dusky-black, 

 with grey stripes. The female deposits its eggs in June or July, in the collar of young 

 apple trees, and the resulting grub eats its way through the bark, and lives on the albur- 



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