FRUIT CULTURE. 



1099 



Fig. 1505.— Codling Moth, 

 Magnified. 



scales ; and where thus so prevalent they seri- 

 ously impair the health and vigor of the tree, 

 and sometimes cause its death. 



During the winter the trees should be ex- 

 amined and the scales scraped off. Still, it is 

 almost impossible to cleanse the trees entirely 

 in this way, especially the small branches ; and 

 hence the insect should be fought also at the time when the eggs- 

 are hatching, which usually occurs late in May or early in June, 

 and the young lice are crawling over the limbs, as then they are 

 tender and easily killed. With this object in view, the time of 

 hatching of the remnants left after the winter^ or, spring scraping 

 should be watched, and while the young larvae are active^ the twigs 



should be brushed with a strong 

 solution of soft soap and wash- 

 ing soda, as recommended un- 

 der the Round-headed Borer, 

 or syringed with a solution of 

 washing soda in water, made 

 by dissolving half a pound or 

 more in a pailful. 



^jfflSu 



Fig. 1506. — Apple-tree Root-louse, 

 a, Louae; b, Pupa; c, Fly that lays the eggs. 



The Apple-Tree Te;nt- 

 Caterpillar. 



This insect inhabits now almost all parts of the United States 

 and Canada. The moth is of a pale, dull-reddish color, crossed by 

 two oblique parallel whitish .lines, the space between these lines 

 being usually paler than the general color. The eggs are deposited 

 during the month of July upon the smaller twigs of our fruit-trees 

 in ringlike clusters, each composed of from fifteen 

 to twenty rows, containing in all from two to three 

 hundred, hatching during the first warm days of 

 spring. They usually appear during the last week in 

 April or early in May, depending much on the pre- 

 vailing temperature. 



Since the Tent-caterpillar is so easily detected by 

 its conspicuous nest, it need never become very 

 troublesome, as the larvae may easily be destroyed 

 while sheltering within it; Sometimes when the nest 

 is destroyed a portion of the caterpillars will be 

 absent feeding, and within a few days it may be Fia. 1507 

 found partly repaired with the remnants of the host Twig-girdler. 



