97 



per cent. (.185 per cent.) of end wormy apples. It will be 

 seen at once that the one spraying during the firsc period is 

 by far the most effective in reducing the number of end 

 wormy apples and this, taken in connection with the fact 

 that two-thirds to three-fourths of all the wormy apples on 

 unsprayed trees are entered at the blossom end. enows why 

 the early spraying (the application within a week or ten 

 days after the blossoms fall) is the one which produces the 

 results. It is obvious that if the first spraying for the cod- 

 ling moth is by far the most efficient, this is the one upon 

 which special stress should be laid. One thorough spraying 

 at that time is fully twice as effective as an application given 

 a little too late to secure the best results. In our experience 

 we are satisfied that more penetration is secured if the work 

 is done just after the blossoms fall and before the stamens 

 have dried and twisted so as to present a more or less effec- 

 ual bar to the entrance of the poisonous fluids into the calyx 

 cavity, the point where most of the young apple worms 

 should meet their fate. 



If the fruit grower can fully realize the importance of 

 the first spraying for the control of the codling moth, there 

 is little probability of his suffering much from later broods. 

 Paradoxical though it may appear, the way to control the 

 second brood is to spray thoroughly for the first. 



A study of the data collected during a series of years, 

 justifies the conclusion, for the Hudson valley at least, that 

 in normal seasons when the crop is abundant or fairly abun- 

 dant, one thorough early spraying within a week or ten days 

 after the blossoms fall and preferably early during that 

 period, should result in the production of 95 to 98 per cent, 

 of sound fruit. A slight gain will accrue from a second 

 treatment about three weeks after blossoming, and addition- 

 al returns may be secured from a third spraying the latter 

 part of July. The benefit from the latter two is compara- 

 tively small, so far as the codling moth is concerned, though 

 ample to meet the cost of the poison and, in many instances, 

 probably the expense of the treatment. A small crop almost 

 invariably means a larger percentage of wormy fruit, and il 

 the prospects are even fair for good prices, the third spray- 

 ing (the latter part of July) would justify itself because ot 



