548 



parative isolation, and to the wise legislation introduced twelve 

 years ago, and prior to the introduction of Responsible Government. 

 The measure, an Order-in-Council, under date 7th March, 1889, 

 absolutely prohibited the importation of apples, pears, and quinces 

 on any point of the West Australian coast south of Champion Bay 

 and the port of G-eraldton. The late Bureau of Agriculture has often 

 been given credit, or has been abused, for this wise piece of 

 legislation, but it is seen that the Order-in-Council was enacted 

 some five years before the Bureau was constituted. 



On the 5th of July, 1901, another Order-in-Council revoked 

 this order, and since then the prohibition of apples, pears, and 

 quinces has been removed. 



Life History in Australia. 



Apple trees blossom in Australia from the last week in Sep- 

 tember to the end of October, and a week or two after the opening 

 of the petals the first codlin moths issue from the pupae or chrysalis, 

 and the males and females mate. The proportion of these is fairly 

 balanced. From observations made, the female lays 80 odd eggs. 

 The mother moth flies about at dusk, or even earlier in the day if 

 the weather is cloudy, and lays one egg on each apple (if more than 

 one grub is found in the fruit then the eggs have been laid by 

 different moths) ; that egg is more frequently deposited about the 

 eye, but it is sometimes seen on the stalk, or even on leaves. 



The eggs are sometimes infertile, especially in cool, foggy 

 localities, where the parent moths either fail to mate, or on account 

 of the egg not having sufficient warmth to hatch. The first theory 

 is the more likely under Australian conditions. During the egg- 

 depositing period the moths are said to fly long distances in search 

 of a suitable place to lay their eggs, and are often carried in the 

 direction of the prevailing wind. 



The eggs hatch in from seven to ten days, and the young grubs 

 grope about nibbling at the fruit, generally about the eye, where they 

 have their first few meals. Shortly after, they strike the apple and 

 effect an entrance into the fruit, generally in the eye, but at times 

 from the side or at the place where two apples touch, or where a 

 leaf is resting on the fruit. Once the fruit is struck the younij 

 grub goes on tunnelling towards the core of the fruit, coming back 

 to the entrance to void its castings, and afterwards leaving them in 

 the tunnel. It soon reaches the pips, one or more of which it eats, 

 and then, in about a month's time, when full fed, it carves a tunnel 

 out for itself, generally on the side of the fruit, but sometimes, 

 although rarely, along the same channel it cut when entering into the 

 apple. This channel is not always visible from outside, but when 

 the apple is cut into often becomes noticeable. 



When full fed it either comes down with the fruit, which drops 

 prematurely, or it lets itself down by means of a silky thread, and 

 it then proceeds to seek shelter. This it finds, in most cases, under 



