154 ORCHARD INSECTS 



to come out to give them a "square meal." Getting such an 

 early start as they do and being provided with an insatiable 

 appetite, they come very near to keeping up with the leaves 

 when there is a bad attack of them. This makes it necessary to 

 use drastic measures with them when they once get a start in an 

 orchard. Few insects can make an apple tree look more desolate, 



Bemedy. — Where trees are attacked badly by this insect it 

 will usually be necessary to give a special spraying with arsenate 

 of lead before the blossoms open, else they may get so large 

 that it will be difficult to kill them with any ordinary dose. If 

 they have been allowed to get a start in the orchard it is simply 

 a question of using poison strong enough and they can be killed. 

 Four to six pounds of arsenate of lead paste to fifty gallons of 

 water will be found none too strong. It is also worth noting 

 that where orchards are sprayed while dormant with lime-sulfur 

 at the usual strength there is generallv no trouble from the 

 tent-caterpillar as the eggs are usually all destroyed. 



The Railroad Worm or Apple Maggot. — There is not much 

 satisfaction in discussing this insect because, up to date, there 

 has been so little discovered that can be done for it. 



Life History and Habits. — The adult insect is a little fly 

 which deposits its eggs just under the skin of the apple. This 

 egg-laying is likely to occur at any time during the summer and 

 on hatching the little maggot burrows through the tiesh of the 

 apple. If there are several maggots in one apple the fruit may 

 be completely riddled. An ajffected apple has a peculiar pitted 

 appearance on the outside, the sunken areas being of a different 

 color from the balance of the surface. On cutting open the apple 

 the flesh will be found to be a net-work of little tunnels. The 

 first tunnels made by the little worm after batching, usually 

 close up and appear merely as little hard threads running 

 through the flesh. The later tunnels remain open. An apple 

 attacked by this insect is practically worthless as human food, 

 but may be fed to stock. 



It is a curious fact that the apple maggot seems to have very 

 decided preferences for certain varieties. In a general way 

 those varieties which are soft in flesh and mild in flavor seem 



