ORCHABD PESTS 87 



dwarf trees score a point. On a larger scale, soil dressing 

 with kainite will kill the larvae in the autumn. Gas lime 

 is no good unless it can be very finely pulverized, nor is 

 there much to be said for spraying. In bad cases, where 

 very few pears are Ukely to reach maturity, the drastic 

 course of sacrificing the whole crop and burning it would 

 deprive the Midges of their means of continuance into 

 the next season. 



Another trouble in pear and cherry orchards is the 

 Slugworm, which is the larva of the Pear and Cherry 

 Sawfly {Eriocampa limacina), a disgusting-looking maggot 

 which gnaws away the leaves of pear, damson, cheiTy, 

 peach, plum and apple trees. They are also known as 



" snecfs.' 



The adult fly measures | inch across the wings, which 

 are dusky grey with a transparent border, the body being 

 black. The larva, which is white at first, soon becomes 

 covered with a protective ugly green sHme, and indeed 

 looks very much like a slug gone wrong or a tadpole 

 with the influenza. It is about ^ inch long when full 

 size, and although it has ten pairs of feet, it cannot get 

 along very quickly, distinctly sluggish in fact. In later 

 life its appearance is somewhat improved, as the slime 

 is discarded, and its colour changes to yellow or 

 buff. (See Plate 19.) 



The adult flies come out in early June, and proceed 

 to saw up the leaves, sHtting through the tissues and 

 depositing eggs therein. The larvae hatch in about a 

 week, and there are several broods in a season. 



As the pupae are in the soil at the base of the trees, this 

 should be got up in the autumn with a Canterbury hoe 

 and broken finely, quickhme being worked in thoroughly. 

 In bad cases this soil should be removed and burnt. 



Poultry, if penned beneath the trees, would pick up 

 the larvae in the autumn as they fall. 



Pear and Plum Trees sometimes afford a home for the 

 Figure of Eight Moth {Diloba cceruleocephoJa). It is not 



