APPLE PESTS 



535 



success. In case of veneer they should 

 be soaked in water before attempting to 

 bend them around the trees. Where there 

 are only a few trees, as around the home 

 yard, the most satisfactory method of pro- 



HawKeye 



Fi?. 1. Veneer Strips of Ready-made Protector. 



tection is to wrap them with papers; 

 cornstalks, burlap, etc., may be used, but 

 these must be removed during the sum- 

 mer as they furnish a harboring place for 

 insects. 



Traps 

 There are any number of these which 

 are very easily made and are very effect- 

 ive. This method is not as economical 

 as poisoning but is frequently used. 



Poisons 



Poisons have the advantage of being 

 easy to make and place, but may be dan- 

 gerous to domesticated animals. Two for- 

 mulas are included, any one of which 

 will do. 



1. Sulphate of strychnine one part, 

 borax one-third part, white syrup one part, 

 water ten parts. Put the mixture into 

 a jar or large bottle and mix well. Cut 

 fresh twigs, water sprouts of apple are 

 best, and with a small brush paint them, 

 especially over the terminal bud. with the 

 above preparation. 



2. The Western Australia Department 

 of Agriculture recommends a similar for- 

 mula: Dissolve one and one-half ounces 

 of strychnine in one quart of vinegar. 



dilute with five gallons of water, add two 

 pounds of flour and one pound of sugar, 

 stir well and apply to twig as in first 

 poison. 



Railroad W^orm. — See Apple Maggot, 

 this section. 



Red Bug. — See Apple Red Bug, this 

 section. 



Ked-Humped Apple Tree Caterpillar 



Oedemasia rnncinna S. & A. 



H. F. Wilson 



As yet this insect has not reached a 

 very important status as a pest, but it 

 Is more or less generally distributed in 

 fruit growing sections of the United 

 States. At times they may get into an 

 orchard and strip a great many branches, 

 as they are voracious eaters, feeding on 

 apple, plum, cherry, rose, thorn pear, 

 blackberry, birch, poplar, etc. 



The adults are moths of rather a mixed 

 brown color, fore wings dark brown on 

 the inner and grayish along the outer 

 margin. The thorax and abdomen are 

 brown. The moths appear in the middle 

 of the summer and deposit their eggs in 

 clusters on the under side of the leaves. 

 From these soon hatch little larvae or 

 worms, which feed on the under side of 

 the leaf. Later as they grow larger, the 

 whole leaf excepting the midrib, is de- 

 voured. In October they become full 

 grown, descend to the ground, crawl under 

 leaves or rubbish, where they construct a 

 clear transparent cocoon, and remain un- 

 til the following spring, when they appear 

 as moths. 



The full grown caterpillar measures 

 about one and one-fourth inches in length. 

 It is marked with fine longitudinal stripes 

 of black, white and yellow. Head bright 

 red. and contracting upward and back- 

 ward. Body covered with black tubercles. 

 which on the dorsum carry black spines. 



Fig. 1. 



The Red-humped Caterpillar. (Much 

 Enlarged, i 



