52 THE HOME ACRE. 



of the apple. Who has not seen the ground cov- 

 ered with premature and decaying fruit in July, 

 August, and September ? Each specimen will be 

 found perforated by a worm-hole. The egg has 

 been laid in the calyx of the young apple, where 

 it soon hatches into a small white grub, which bur- 

 rows into the core, throwing out behind it a brown- 

 ish powder. After about three weeks of apple 

 diet it eats its way out, shelters itself under the 

 scaly bark of the tree if allowed to be scaly or 

 in some other hiding-place, spins a cocoon, and in 

 about three weeks comes out a moth, and is ready 

 to help destroy other apples. This insect prob- 

 ably constitutes one of Nature's methods of pre- 

 venting trees from overbearing; but like some 

 people we know, it so exaggerates its mission as to 

 become an insufferable nuisance. The remedies 

 recommended are that trees should be scraped free 

 of all scales in the spring, and washed with a solu- 

 tion of soft soap. About the 1st of July, wrap 

 bandages of old cloth, carpet, or rags of any kind 

 around the trunk and larger limbs. The worms 

 will appreciate such excellent cover, and will swarm 

 into these hiding-places to undergo transformation 

 into moths. Therefore the wraps of rags should 

 often be taken down., thrown into scalding water, 

 dried, and replaced. The fruit as it falls should 

 be picked up at once and carried to the pigs, 



