Insects in Orchards. 551 



Art. X. On Insects in Orchards. By Mr. D. Anderson. 



Sir, 

 It will be admitted that horticulturists are more susceptible 

 of, and more exposed to, the vicissitudes of the atmosphere, 

 and to destruction by insects, in their labours and property, 

 than most other men, and indeed more than even agricultur- 

 ists in general. Much light has been thrown upon this sub- 

 ject by your various correspondents, and much yet remains 

 for investigation and observation. I have two acres of orchard, 

 of from twenty to thirty years' standing ; three fourths apples : 

 I have paid considerable attention to their growth and crops 

 during that time, and I find that apples suffer more from 

 insects than any other sort of orchard fruit. I have not, how- 

 ever, been able to discover any effectual remedy, nor do I 

 think any will be found, as I conceive the evil does not arise 

 from any peculiar state or condition of the trees, or soil, or 

 situation, but from the early or late, wet or dry, state of the 

 season, over which we can have no control. If the months of 

 January and February be mild and temperate, the blossom 

 buds become prominent ; and if the month of March be dry 

 and frosty, as is often the case, the buds become stagnant 

 in rather an open state. Just then a certain small fly 

 makes its last change, and coming forth on wing, strikes 

 its egg into the eye of the bud. The egg soon comes to 

 a caterpillar, which, during the months of April and May, 

 eats out the blossom, and, when full grown, preys upon the 

 young foliage, and may be seen hanging by a thread, and 

 resting upon your hat and clothes as you pass under ; it leaves 

 the trees, in the latter end of May, as naked as they were in 

 winter. This is a small light green caterpillar, one third of 

 an inch long, which does not lodge itself on the trees, but, 

 like the gooseberry caterpillar, buries itself in the ground till 

 the proper season for coming forth. The years 1817, 1819, 

 1 821, 1824, and 1 827 exhibited these appearances in a greater 

 or less degree. On the contrary, when the early months are 

 severe, the buds are kept back till April : if then the season 

 proves mild and wet, the fly is impeded, the bud is encouraged, 

 and in May the blossom opens freely, and seldom fails of a 

 crop, as in the years 1818, 1820, 1822, and 1826; and, if 

 my views on this subject be correct, I calculate upon a full 

 crop of apples this year. 



D. Anderson. 

 Driffield, Yorkshire, April 30. 1829. 



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