CROP ENEMIES AND FRIENDS 



211 



I 



know that a destructive worm will issue from the harmless-looking 

 pupa, we will crush it. If we realize that the moth flitting about our 

 yard will lay hundreds and thousands of eggs that bring forth in- 

 jurious caterpillars, we will give her swift and painless death. 



Moths. The worms and caterpillars most destructive to crops 

 are the larvae of moths. Among these are the canker worm, 

 the army worm, the tent caterpillar, the cabbage, tobacco, and 

 currant worms, the cotton 

 boll worm, the cutworm, 

 and the larvae of the cod- 

 ling moth and gypsy moth. 



Codling Moth. The cod- 

 ling moth is one of our im- 

 ported pests. It lays its 

 eggs on young apples just 

 after the blossoms fall. An 

 egg hatches into a larva 

 which burrows into the fruit 

 and feeds on it. This causes 

 the apple to fall before it is 

 ripe. The full-grown larva 

 leaves the apple and crawls 

 up the tree trunk, enters the 

 pupa state, and issues as a 

 moth. 



The easiest way to deal with this pest is to trap the moths by 

 bands of cloth wrapped around the tree trunk. The moths collect 

 under these and can be destroyed. The tree should be sprayed 

 or dusted with poison as soon as the blossoms fall. It is useless 

 to spray against the larvae after the blossom-end turns downward, 

 as they are then protected by the position of the fruit. 



An apple injured by the larva of the codling 

 moth, which is shown on the apple; above, is 

 shown the moth. 



