May, 1909 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



109 



The Tussock Moth in Orchards 



Prof. W. Lochhead, Macdonald College 



AT the last meeting of the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Association in Toronto sever- 

 al fruit growers made enquiries about 

 the habits of the tussock moth which had 

 made its appearance in considerable num- 

 bers in some orchards during the past sea- 

 son. While this pest usually confines its 

 ravages to shade trees in towns and cities, 

 occasionally it does considerable damage to 

 the foliage and the young fruits of apples 

 and pears. As far back as 1871, Rev. Dr. 

 Bethune reported the tussock moth as a 

 serious enemy to apple trees, attacking both 

 the leaves and the fruit. 



A recent bulletin from the New York 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, 

 (Bulletin 312, "The Tussock Moth in Orch- 

 ards," by W. J. Schoene) gives a clear ac- 

 count of the life history and habits of this 

 insect for the benefit of the orchardists of 

 New York, where it had done much damage 

 in 1908. 



The life-history of the tussock moth is 

 already fairly well known. (See the dia- 

 gram.) The winter is passed in the egg 

 state; the eggs hatch in the latter half of 

 May ; the caterpillars continue feeding for 

 about a month ; the pupa state lasts about 

 two weeks ; and the moths emerge in the 

 latter part of Jxily and early August to 

 mate, and the females deposit their eggs in 

 masses of 100-500 on the empty cocoons in 

 a white foam-like substance. These egg- 

 masses are quite conspicuous objects, and 

 hence can be readily collected and destroy- 

 ed. 



The caterpillars are beautiful creatures, 

 being adorned with two long black pencils of 

 hairs at head end and one at the tail end. 

 Four tufts or tussocks of whitish hairs orn- 

 ament the back on the fore part of the 

 body. The head and two small tubercles 

 on the back are bright red, while along the 

 back runs a broad velvety stripe. 



The male pupa is smaller than the fe- 

 male pupa ; and the male moth has brown 

 wings with delicate gray markings, while 

 the female moth is wingless and gray. 



There is but one brood a year in Canada, 

 but farther south there may be two or even 

 three broods. 



Among the natural enemies of the tussock 

 moth are some of our native birds which 

 feed upon the caterpillars in the younger 

 stages, and parasitic insects such as Pimpla 

 and Tachina. 



The best measures for the control of this 

 insect are: 1. To collect and destroy the 

 conspicuous frothy egg-masses that are to 

 be found attached to leaves and rubbish, 

 by scraping them with a hoe from the 

 trunks and branches. 



2. When egg-mass collecting has been 

 neglected the young caterpillars can be de- 

 stroyed by arsenical sprays. When the 

 caterpillars are nearing maturity, it is 

 necessary to increase the amount of arsenic. 



3. Tussock caterpillars have a habit of 

 migrating from the tree upon which they 

 have been feeding to neighboring trees to 



Diagram Showing Life Cycle of Totsock Moth 



spin their cocoons. A band of cotton 

 al)Out the trunk, tied tightly about the mid- 

 dle so that it is loose above and below, acts 

 as an efiicient barrier. 



The Columbia River Valley 



Montford A. Kelly, Wilmer, British Columbia 



THE continually increasing inclination 

 among professional and business 

 men of giving up their line of busi- 

 ness in the large cities and towns 

 and returning to some agricultural pursuit, 

 has done much to stimulate the interesting 

 and pleasant occupation of raising and 

 growing of fruit. Many who would never 

 have turned their minds and talents to 

 these lines have been influenced by just 

 such people to take up this class of work. 

 Much benefit has been the result to the 

 fruit growing industry as well as great pro- 

 fit to the grower himself. 



At one time it was thought that certain 

 parts of Ontario would never become good 

 fruit growing districts but which have fin- 

 ally become the choicest and very best por- 

 tions of that province for fruit to-day. This 

 was also the verdict of most of the inhabi- 

 tants of the Wilmer !ind Windermere dis- 

 trict of the Columbia River Vallf>y, in view 

 of the fact that there were ranchers and 

 neighbors, who had demonstrated ' the feas- 

 ibility of this indu.'itry by successfully rais- 

 ing apple.'*, plums, cherries and every var- 

 iety of small fruits. 



The Wilmer and Windermere district of 

 British Columbia is at an elevation of 2.569 

 feet above sea level, with the wooded sides. 



bald peaks of many varying colors of the 

 Rocky Mountains on the one side and the 

 magnificent Selkirk Range of mountains on 

 the other. The valley ranges from three to 

 seven and, in some places, as wide as eight 

 miles in width and near the center of the 

 valley runs the picturesque Columbia 

 River. 



The clear and invigorating mountain air 

 makes the valley an enjoyable place for 

 either summer or winter tourists. The tem- 

 perature seldom drops to more than 15 de- 

 grees below zero and the snow rarely ex- 

 ceeds from five to six inches in depth. 



Ranching has been carried on most suc- 

 cessfully for more than 20 years and the oc- 

 casions of real necessity of putting up hay 

 for cattle during that time have been few 

 and far between. Cattle as well as horses 

 safely range the whole of the winter months 

 and come through looking healthy and fit. 



The autumn season is long enough to 

 allow for a thorough ripening of the wood 

 in fruit trees and the mild winters permit 

 of grafts being left in the ground all winter 

 so that they may be dug in the spring and 

 transplanted in a fresh and healthy condi- 

 tion. 



The land of this district is of a rolling na- 

 ture and of pnrk-liko appearance, for the 



most part clear of underbrush but scattered 

 over with flr trees ranging from three to 

 seven and eight inches at the butt. These 

 trees, however, are very easily taken oft the 

 land and have been found to be more of an 

 assistance than a disadvantage to the new 

 settler. 



As yet the fashionable prices are not ob- 

 tained here as in West Kootenay but are 

 within reach of all and the country is much 

 more suitable for fruit growing than many 

 districts more extensively advertised. 



This difference in price is entirely due to 

 the lack of good transportation facilitie.s. It 

 is 80 miles from the nearest railway station. 

 This disadvantage has been the main reason 

 for this district being so slow in com- 

 ing to the front and becoming a popular 

 fruit growing locality as no good markets 

 for profitably disposing of the fruit were 

 available to the grower. However, of late 

 years so many have planted trees for their 

 own use (in small numbers) and the ven- 

 tures have proven so successful, that it has 

 created an interest and desire for orchards 

 that never before existed. The interest has 

 become general and there are now a number 

 of fairly large orchards bearing a firm and 

 hardy fruit. Hundreds of trees are now 

 being planted every year and it is only a 

 question of a very few years before the Wil- 

 mer and Windermere district will be one of 

 the very best apple, plum, cherry and small 

 fruit growing districts in the province. 



Realizing the future of this valley and the 

 advantage of opening up a district so rich in 

 mineral and agricultural as well as horti- 

 cultural possibilities, the Kootenay Central 

 Railway Company have obtained a charter 

 for the construction of a railway from Gold- 

 en, B. C, south to Cranbrook, B. C, and 

 this road is now under course of construc- 

 tion. This line will open up the prairie 

 and eastern markets to th"e rancher and 

 fruit grower and thereby eliminate the 

 greatest difficulty in the valley's endeavor 

 to become one of the best fruit growing dis- 

 tricts of British Columbia. 



Advice To Fruit Exporters 



J.S. Lark, Canadian Trade Commiitioner, Australia 



A representative of an English Fruit firm 

 has visited Australia and in speaking of 

 the export of fruit he says : 



"I would advise packers to place their fruit 

 in cold stores for at least four days before 

 it goes into the hold of a ship, in order that 

 the fruit may give off the carbonic acid gas 

 which is generated in it. Then, when the 

 fruit is placed in the cold storage chamber 

 on the boat, it does not generate anything 

 like the gas of the first few days in the cold 

 store on land. If the fruit is put straight 

 in to the ship's hold, the carbonic acid gas 

 eats into it, and when it arrives at its des- 

 tination it is 'spent' and lifeless. Last 

 year, Australian pears and apples did not 

 come to hand in good order, chiefly owing 

 to the intensely hot weather at the time 

 the fruit was packed, and because the 

 greater portion of it was not placed in cold 

 storage for a few davs before being ship 

 ped.'; 



This advice is not new and is not un- 

 known in Canada, and it is possible that the 

 Canadian Department of Agriculture has 

 tested it. If not, it might be well for ship- 

 pers of fruit from British Columbia to 

 .Australia to follow it, as the fruit from Bri- 

 tish Columbia is shipped in fairly warm 

 weather, warmer than when the fruit is 

 shipped from the eastern provinces to 

 Groat Britain, and has to meet much 

 severer weather conditions than the eastern 

 fruit experiences. Anything that would 

 tend to preserve the flavor of the fruit 

 would certainly be financially advantageous 

 to the shippers. 



