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iuences to feed on the inside of the bud 

 with the result that the future petals 

 wither up and form a brown cap over the 

 larva. The larvafeeds, grows and eventually 

 pupates within this " capped " blossom. 

 The weevil eats its way out, and early in 

 September, crawls down the trunk of the 

 tree seeking out any rough bark under 

 which to pass the winter. Failing this 

 the weevil passes on and enters into the 

 ground. As yet no very satisfactory 

 method has been found for fighting this 

 pest. As far as possible all capped blos- 

 soms should be destroyed. The trees 

 should be jarred over a rick cloth, and the 

 beetles which fall can then be destroyed. 

 Grease bands placed on the tree in spring 

 and again in early September will account 

 for a great many. Poultry will devour 

 many hundreds of these beetles if allowed 

 to roam through the orchards. Weather 

 governs the severity of the attack to a 

 large extent. If the buds are checked by 

 cold winds and nights the female is able 

 to lay the full complement of eggs (about 

 50). If, on the other hand, the weather is 

 warm the buds develop quickly, and the 

 blossom opens before she has time to get 

 rid of the full complement. She does not 

 deposit her eggs in the opened flowers. 

 Freshly planted stock and grafts are often 

 seriously damaged by the 



Red Legged Weevil.— This beetle, half 

 an inch in length, black in colour, with 

 dark red legs, is nocturnal in habit. By 

 day it hides under clods of earth at the 

 foot of the tree, but directly it gets dusk 

 it makes its way up to the tips of the 

 branches and gnaws away the bark often 

 doing considerable damage. 



Sacking placed rotxnd the base of the 

 tree will trap the beetles, and they may 

 then be destroyed by day. Napthaline 

 sprinkled on the groimd within a couple of 

 feet radius will keep them away. This 

 weevil is most numerous in. chalky dis- 

 tricts. 



Apple Sawfly Maggot is often a very 

 serious pest to apples, it is advisable to 

 liand pick damaged fruit, but otherwise 

 no remedy has yet been found for it. 



Capsid Bugs damage apples and spoil 

 their appearance, but for these also a com- 

 plete remedy has not been found. 



Fears. 



The pear is visited by many of the apple 

 pests. There are, however, a few peculiar 

 to the pear, the worst of which probably 

 is the 



Pear Midge. — This minute black crea- 

 ture, which measures about one-tenth inch 

 in length, hatches out as soon as the buds 

 begin to show white petals. The female 

 punctures the buds with her long oviposi- 

 ter, and deposits usually ten to a dozen 

 eggs on the anthers. If the blossom is 

 open the eggs are placed in the ovary. 

 These eggs hatch in about ten days, the 

 young maggots living in the small develop- 

 ing fruitlet. These attacked fruitlets 

 grow away quickly becoming deformed. 

 About the first week in June the maggots 

 leave the pear, skip to the ground and 

 there remain till the following spring. 

 Although a most difficult creature to deal 

 with, a great amount of good can be done 

 by destroying all deformed and decaying 

 pears in the spring. A dressing of Kainit 

 under the trees about the time the larvae 

 leave the fruitlets will lessen the attack 

 next year. Undoubtedly the best method 

 of keeping this creature in check is to 

 stock the ground under the trees with 

 poultry about the time the larvae are fall- 

 ing, and again when the fly is due to come 

 out. Another pear pest that is greatly 

 on the increase is the 



Pear Leaf Blister Mite. — This creature 

 is nearly related to the Big Bud Mite .of 

 the currant, but works in a somewhat dif- 

 ferent way. Having passed the winter in 

 the buds they make their way out directly 

 the young leaves appear. They soon bur- 

 row into the leaf, causing a small red spot 

 to appear. Each of these galls contains 

 one female which lays about half-a-dozen 

 eggs in each gall. As they hatch the 

 young wander out over the leaves and 

 then commence to make shelters for them- 

 selves. In the case of a bad attack the 

 leaves become rolled up longitudinally. 

 At times the galls are formed on the 

 young fruitlets which usually die. 

 Directly the leaves begin to die the mites 

 make their way back into the buds, and 

 there pass the winter. All varieties of 

 pears seem to be attacked, and wall fruit 

 is apparently the most susceptible. If the 

 attack is not bad the leaves should be 



