i;i:>iKi)iKs Foi{ iNspx'Ts and Fr\(a injuuixg fkiits. 61 



Perhaps we can best get at the most appiovi'd iiiethods of using 

 them Ity considering the enemies of each fiuit liy themselves. 



The AiTLE. — The codling moth lays its eggs in the blossom end 

 of the apple soon after the petals fall and continues to lay them for 

 u period of perhaps two weeks or more. In some seasons and in 

 some sections a second brood of eggs is laid by the perfected 

 insects from the first brood. 



The tent caterpillar and the canker-worm feed upon the foliage, 

 beginning to work as soon as the leaves unfold, while the plum 

 eurculio feeds upon the foliage and perhaps the fruit, laj'iug its 

 eggs in the crescent shaped cut it makes in the skin. 



These pests may all be destroyed by the use of the arsenites — 

 Paris green, Loudon purple, and white arsenic. To destroy' the 

 tent caterpillar and the canker worm Ave must make the application 

 just as soon as the leaves unfold, and for the codling moth and the 

 eurculio as soon as the petals drop. 



These applications must be made at intervals of from one week 

 to twenty days, according to the weather. If there should be no 

 rain after the first application for the tent caterpillar and canker- 

 worm, another application Avill not prol>ably he needed until the one 

 made to destroy the plum eurculio and the codling moth ; then the 

 applications should be made at intervals of from ten to fifteen days, 

 up to the first of July. 



During this time we must also be combatting the fungous 

 growths, which under favorable conditions may begin work very 

 early in the season. The apple scab is a minute plant that grows 

 upon the surface of the apple leaf and fruit, and, while uot pene- 

 trating the tissues very deeply, stops the growth at the point 

 attacked and we have distorted or gnarly apples resulting from its 

 early attack ; or scabby, spotted apples when it appears later in the 

 season. Its effect upou the leaf is, if in large numbers, to destroy 

 its functions and it soon falls, or if onl}' a few are found on a leaf 

 it simply looks a little yellow and the whole tree has an unhealthy 

 appearance. 



This fungous growth, like most other parasites attacking our 

 fruits, develops under conditions of warmth and moisture. The 

 spores or seeds, which are produced in large numbers, are 

 so minute that they may be carried long distances b}" slight move- 

 ments of the air, and coming in contact with their host plant, the 

 apple, under favorable conditions they grow very quickly. 



