76 PIELD NOTES OX APPLE CULTURE. 



been a general concert of action to destroy them, can ne 

 accounted for in no other way than by supposing that 

 they breed on wild plants. Many orchardists have found 

 that a hawthorn hedge has been an expensive luxury by 

 breeding apple tree borers and other insects. Now that 

 the disgusting apple maggot has spread itself over so wide 

 an extent of country, it becomes important that we de- 

 stroy the wild liawthorns. To those who love the wild 

 plants which decorate our copses and tangles, this de- 

 struction of havv^thorns and other bushes will come as a 

 hardship ; but it is to be remembered that utility must 

 come before beauty. Moreover, those who admire the 

 hawthorns can plant them and keep off the insects. 

 The wild crab breeds the Codlin Moth. The wild cherry 

 is perhaps the favorite food plant of the destructive Tent 

 Caterpillar. 



Not only do some wild plants breed orchard insects, but 

 they are not infrequently the means of causing little 

 known insects to multiply so rapidly as to take on new 

 habits and overrun the farm. I have in mind a pain- 

 ful instance. In Western Michigan a swamp of Avild 

 roses bred the rose chafer. "The insects were noticed by 

 residents in the vicinity for some years, it is said. The 

 insects multiplied to such an extent that the swamps 

 could no longer hold them, and they overran small fruits 

 and orchards for miles about in the most destructive man- 

 ner. Over a considerable area these insects have been 

 the most serious of orchard pests for some years. 



Information concerning insects is now easily obtained. 

 The scope of these notes allows me to discuss only the 

 most injurious pests, the Borers and the Codlin Moth, 



