THE APPLE. 



falls will sliow that, in a large proportion of cases, the worms have 

 gone. Less than half, it is presumed, are thus caught by waiting 

 until the apples fall. 



The iburth and last method mentioned — that of entrapping the 

 worms — is believed to be the most eifectual. But little sue ess has 

 ever attended eflForts to catch the parent moths. They are nocturnal 

 in their habits, and not one man in a dozen has ever seen one in liis 

 orchard. They are shy and not easily entrapped. They have been 

 tried with lamps and with fire; they have been tortured with 

 stench and with smoke ; they have been tempted with molasses, 

 and sweetened water, and vinegar; and while other insects yield 

 to the seductions, the codling moths, with rare exceptions, reject 

 them all. 



The worms, on leaving the appl?, immediately seek some place 

 of shelter, where they can wind their cocoons and go into the pupa 

 state, and (if late in tlie season) go into winter quarters. Hence 

 the theory of the use of bands around the trees. Every man's 

 ingenuity will suggest material out of which these bands can most 

 profitably be made. Hay and straw, twisted into ropes about an 

 inch in diameter, and wound twice around the trees and tied, as in 

 binding sheaves, make very good shelters for them. But better 

 still, a band three or -four inches in width, made from old cloth, and 

 so tied with a c<Td as to offer them a protection beneath. 



But old clothes are not always to be had in sufficient abundance 

 for a large orchard. Sheets of thick and strong brown paper, cut 

 into four-inch strips and tied, would probably be as good and cheap 

 substitutes as any. They can at least be easily and quickly 

 handled, but would not last more than one season. 



But these bands, it should be remembered, will be worse than 

 useless unless they are frequently examined and the larva de- 

 stroyed. They should be put on in say twenty days from the 

 falling of the apple-blo>soms ; afterwards they should be examined 

 at least monthly. The last examination should be after the crop i?i 

 gathered, or may be deferred till winter. 



Other modes may suggest themselves to the intelligent culti- 

 vator, and every mode should be put nto requisidou that will 

 d«L-sir(.y a moth and save an apple. 



