T^HE APRICOT. 



523 



the time of its becoming a moth, when it screws 

 itself nearly out of its hiding-place, being often 

 seen with half its body beyond the orifice. The 

 female deposits her eggs on the outer bark, and 

 when the young caterpillar is fairly formed, it 

 begins to burrow into the inner bark. The 

 remedy to be applied is, upon the appearance of 

 the reddish dust on the surface of the bark, to 

 thrust a strong needle into the hole under the 

 dust, and so destroy the grub in its habita- 

 tion. As it is in the stems and larger branches 

 that these insects take up their abode, the sur- 

 face may be laid over with a solution of lime 

 both in May and September. The most effectual 

 means, however, would be to paint the stems 

 and branches where the insect is enclosed with 



vegetable spirits of tar, which would completely 

 destroy them. 



The mussel, or dry scale {Aspidiotus conchi- 

 formis), Fig. 191, is occasionally found on the 

 one and two years' wood. 



European names. — Abrlcotier, French, al- 

 though in some of the provinces it is pretty 

 generally called Alberge, being the native name 

 of a variety common in the interior of France, 

 and propagated from seed, indicating little varia- 

 tion during successive generations ; Albarico 

 queira, Spanish ; Abirkoos, Dutch ; Aprikosen- 

 baum, German ; Albercocco, Italian. The names 

 by which it is known in various European coun- 

 tries all seem to be corruptions of the original 

 Arabic term Berkoche. 



