170 Insects and Diseases. 



or miller, which may be distinguished from all other moths by a 

 patch of burnished coppery scales at the tip of its front wings, ap- 

 pears first early in summer, and lays its eggs in the blossom end of 

 the young apples, a single egg in each. The young larva soon 

 hatches and burrows towards the core, eating as it goes. In three 

 or four weeks, or more, it is full grown, and the young apples fall 

 to the ground nearly at the same time. The larva passes out 

 through a round hole which it makes, and crawls for some place to 

 spin its cocoon, usually to the rough trunk of the tree. The moth, 

 or miller, comes out in a few weeks for a second brood, but the 

 apples have now grown so large that fewer fall to the ground from 

 the injury, but they are more or less spoiled for use and market. 

 The insects are often found in them after the crop is gathered for 

 winter, and hiding in various places, spin their cocoons, and come 

 out in spring to perpetuate their mischief. Prof. Riley says, that 

 in a barrel of wormy apples which he broke up early in the spring, 

 he found about two hundred such cocoons ; and estimating that 

 one barrel would furnish a hundred winged females, each of which 

 would lay two hundred eggs and spoil as many apples, and allow- 

 ing a hundred apples to the bushel, he arrived at the result that 

 two hundred bushels of apples may be ruined by the insects from 

 one apple barrel, if allowed to escape. 



The remedies for the prevention of the work of this formidable 

 insect are of two kinds, and are founded on the destruction of the 

 larva while in the fruit, and of the cocoons before the miller comes 

 out. Animals which would pick up and devour the young and in- 

 fested fruit as soon as it falls, would perform the first-named ser- 

 vice. Swine, if sufficiently numerous, answer the purpose well ; 

 but as few owners of large orchards have herds large enough, it is 

 proposed to employ sheep, which are known to eat the young 

 apples readily, and which may commonly be had in large flocks. 

 The bark of the trees may possibly need protection from them. In 

 the few instances where they have been thoroughly tried, year 

 after year, they have given smooth and fair crops. Oliver Chapin, 

 of East Bloomfield, N. Y., recommends the practice of employing 

 boys to pick the infested apples from the trees, stating that one 

 boy would pick several bushels in a day. The second remedy 

 Destroying the cocoons may be effected in part by passing bands 

 of cheap coarse paper around the trunks of the trees early in sum- 

 mer, and afterwards c-rushing the cocoons which form under these 

 bands ; and also by placing pieces of old carpets, etc., in the forks, 

 and then crushing those which adhere to them. 



