266 maine; agricultural experiment station. 1907. 



food for apple maggots, curculio grubs, and larva? of codling 

 moths. There is rarely a farmyard in which a few apple trees 

 haye not been planted and then in many cases left undisturbed 

 as food for whatever insects chance that way. Wild cherries 

 and hawthorn as well as native apples are permitted to grow 

 within insect flight of cultivated apples and form entirely satis- 

 factory breeding places from the standpoint of orchard pests. 

 Paramount inducements are thus offered for every apple pest 

 that can endure the climate. In the face of this cordial stand- 

 ing invitation to apple insects, there is many an orchard owner 

 in the State who is grumbling because the invitation is annually 

 accepted, and who has about decided that there is not much use 

 trying to get perfect apples enough for his own family use. 



There is a panacea for most of this trouble to be found in 

 clean culture, by which is understood in part the clearing out 

 of worthless trees, both cultivated and native, that serve as 

 breeding places for orchard pests ; the proper pruning and 

 spraying of all apple trees not cut down; the tilling of orchard 

 soil to disturb insects hibernating or transforming there ; and 

 the persistent destruction of windfalls. 



The difficulties in the way of securing clean culture are not 

 so serious for the man who depends upon his orchard for his 

 income, for he would, of course, expect to supply himself with 

 the necessary help and equipment. But the people who are 

 engaged in other occupations and have only a small orchard, 

 or a few favorite trees, cannot always conveniently give their 

 trees the necessary attention. There is probably no neighbor- 

 hood nor any grange in the State, however, which could not 

 find one capable man who could be induced to care for the trees 

 in a certain locality. The utterly hopeless conditions which 

 small orchards present all through the southern part of the 

 State would seem to offer a perfectly practical proposition for 

 cooperation. Any grange or neighborhood could easily afford 

 the spraying equipment. 



The great economy of time and energy made possible by 

 some such arrangement is apparent, for it would necessitate 

 but one person making an effort to become acquainted with the 

 dangerous insects, their vulnerable points and remedial meas- 

 ures instead of 20 or 30 to do so. 



The number of insects which occur upon any one species of 

 tree is likely to be excessive. The number of determined spe- 



