70 FRUIT TREES AND THEIR ENEMIES 



Moth. Caustic winter washes destroy many of the 

 young caterpillars, by eating through the gummy 

 covering which coated the eggs. 



Winter Moth {Cheiinatohia hruviatd). — The cater- 

 pillar of this moth does immense damage to the 

 foliage of apples, pears, plums, cherries, nuts, etc. 

 The eggs, which can just be seen by the naked eye, 

 are laid in crevices, often near the ends of the shoots, 

 but also on the boughs, and, even, trunks, and they 

 commence to hatch towards the end of March. The 

 caterpillar, when quite young, is dingy-green or dark 

 grey, with a black head, but soon becomes bright green 

 with pale lines ; it is a looper, and measures nearly an 

 inch in length. It lets itself down from the trees into 

 the ground in June, and becomes a pupa, from 

 which the moth emerges in October, November or 

 December. The females cannot fly, and, therefore, 

 crawl up the stems of the trees, by day as well as by 

 night, to lay their eggs. 



Remedies. — The caterpillars are easily killed in 

 spring by weak emulsions, or by arsenate of lead. 

 Preventive measures may be taken in the shape of 

 " grease-banding " the trees : before the first week 

 of October, bands of grease-proof paper, 6 to 8 inches 

 wide, should be tied round the stems of the trees, 

 fastening them with bast or string near the top and 

 bottom edges; they are then smeared with cart grease, 

 which must be of good quality, and which may be 

 best applied by means of a brush. The female moths 

 stick to the grease on their way up the trees, and may 

 then be destroyed. 



