STATE POMOLOQICAL SOCIETY. 103 



Another effective device for entrapping the worms, not men- 

 tioned by Mr. Riley, is to eucircle the trees with a band made of 

 a thin slice or shaving of wood, like that used for veneering or 

 for manufacturing berry boxes. If one band is not long enough 

 to surround a large tree, two or more can be used. The same 

 bands may be used more than one year. It is easy to unwind 

 them as often as necessary to destroy the worms and to replace 

 them. To subdue this pest it is important that all in the neigh- 

 borhood shall cooperate to entrap and destroy every worm hatched 

 in their orchjards, so that no moths shall be produced to fly from 

 one orchard to another to spoil the fruit. 



" I should state here, that all these bandages are most effectual 

 on young and sm"ooth trees ; because on older ones where the bark 

 is rough, a great many worms spin up before they leave the tree, 

 and before reaching the bandages, and others spin up below the 

 bandages, hence the importance of scraping off all the rough por- 

 tions of the bark which would harbor these worms, also to keep 

 the ground under the trees smooth and clear of all rubbish under 

 which the cocoons may be found. The worms will always be 

 attracted by the most cosy place of shelter, whether that be 

 afforded by rough bark, any trap, or rubbish on the ground in the 

 vicinity of the tree. 



We can also do much by destroying the worms before they 

 leave the fruit. It has generally been recommended to pick up 

 all the apples, or cause them to be devoured by hogs or sheep, 

 but many varieties of the apple trees do not drop their fruit until 

 after this worui has issued. The absence of the worm is generally- 

 known by the mass of frass on the outside of the apple. Now, it 

 would be futile to go to a great deal of expense, when the worm 

 had left before the fruit fell from the tree. With regard to pears, 

 1 have been informed that the worm invariably leaves before the 

 fruit falls from the tree. 



A few words as to its food plants. The apple is essentially its 

 food plant, but in late years I have seen it in pears, plums and 

 peaches, and it breeds in wild crabs. There are many indirect 

 ways of fighting this insect, first of all by encouraging its para- 

 sites. I have discovered that two parasites prey upon the codling- 

 moth. Some of the college students before me may want to know 

 what I mean by parasites. If I told you of a bug that deposited 

 its eggs on the bodies of sheep or other animals ; that that egg 

 hatched out into a serpent, which fed and flourished in the fatty 

 portion of the sheep, without injuring it for a time, apparently ; 

 that on the contrary, the sheep so inlested would be able to live 

 without food, whereas without the parasite it would die ; that 

 after a time the serpent ate its way through the sheep, burrowed 

 into the ground, and after remaining there an indefinite time, 

 would struggle through the earth and issue as a bird, like its 

 parent, the story would appear ridiculous. Yet it is hardly more 

 wonderful than the actual facts of parasite insect life. 



