1046 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



APPLE 



than the variety grafted upon it there is 

 usually a distinct inequality in the stems 

 at the point of grafting. Trees grafted on 

 the Paradise Stock require to be regularly 

 and properly pruned every year ao that 

 they may not become too quickly ex- 

 hausted, and continue to produce good 

 crops every year. 



Insect and Fungoid Pests. — Among 

 the many pests which attack the Apple 

 tree the following are the most formidable, 

 and require every attention in conjunction 

 with good ciiltivation to keep them under. 



1. The American Blight or Woolly 

 Aphis (Schizoneura lanigera) is a short- 

 legged Aphis covered with a woolly or 

 cottony down. It attacks all parts of the 

 tree, several usually uniting in a whitish 

 mass. The insects are protected by their 

 woolly covering, and carry on their work 

 by piercing the softer parts of the stems 

 or branches with their sucker-Kke beaks. 

 As they often secrete themselves in the 

 cracks and crevices of the old bark, and 

 also lay their eggs in these sheltered spots, 

 it is extremely difficult to dislodge them 

 once they have taken a firm hold upon 

 a. tree. They produce large cankerous 

 wounds in the stems, and thrive upon the 

 elaborated sap, thus interfering with the 

 vital source of the tree's nourishment. 

 During the summer months the woolly 

 masses are readily distinguished. 



Several more or less dangerous and 

 poisonous liquids have been recommended 

 to destroy this pest, but none of them is 

 so effective as boiling water applied for- 

 cibly in a fine spray or by means of a 

 brush. As long as the temperature can be 

 kept up to about boiling point, or say not 

 lower than 180°, it is a perfect destroyer. 

 It may be improved by the addition of 

 soft soap and tobacco juice, or a little 

 petroleum. The same arguments do 

 not apply against its use in summer as 

 against some of the strong poisonous 

 msecticides, which unless carefully 

 diluted are apt to severely injure the 

 foliage. Cold water is useless agamst the 

 greasy woolly covering of the msects. 

 The infested parts of the tree should be 

 well rubbed and painted with the wash, 

 especially the cracks and crevices. In 

 the winter months the trees may be 

 again examined, and all branches too 

 severely damaged should be cut off and 

 burned — not thrown on the rubbish heap 

 to spread the disease anew. Paraffin oil 

 (or petrbleum) ; gas lic[uor diluted 8 to 12 



times its bulk with water ; or 1 lb. of 

 crude commercial potash and 1 lb. of 

 caustic soda dissolved together in 10 

 gallons of water may be used as washes. 

 The latter is very effective, and the 10 

 gallons may be diluted to 20 for the 

 removal of moss, lichens &c. It removes 

 all parasitic growths and gives the bark 

 of the trees a clean slaty appearance. If 

 the hands are cut or the skin broken in 

 any way, they should be protected with 

 gloves. 



Standard trees are more troublesome 

 to clean than dwarf bushes or pjrramids. 

 By passing rapidly backwards and for- 

 wards along the branches a torch of hay, 

 straw, or any other material giving aflame, 

 at the end of a long pole, the Woolly 

 Aphis may be destroyed in the winter 

 months. As the females have no wings 

 they have to crawl up the stems from the 

 ground. They often nest at the root, 

 and may be dislodged, or rather destroyed, 

 by removing the soil round the base of 

 the trunk, and giving a dressing of lime 

 or soot. Soapsuds are also a, preventive 

 and destroyer. 



2. Apple Blossom Weevil (Anthono- 

 mus pomorum). — A tiny^ reddish-brown 

 beetle less than a quarter of an inch long, 

 having black blotched wing cases obliquely 

 striped and spotted with yellow. The 

 female makes a hole in the unexpanded 

 buds with her slender beak, and in it lays 

 a single egg, repeating the process on as 

 many buds as possible. Whitish grubs 

 develop, and attack the stamens and 

 pistils of the opening flowers, which soon 

 wither and, needless to say, never produce 

 fruit. By the early summer, the grubs 

 having passed through the chrysahs stage, 

 the perfect beetles appear and feed upon 

 the foliage mitil the winter. They then 

 take refuge in the crevices of the bark, or 

 under the soil at the foot of the trees, 

 emerging in spring to repeat the process 

 of spoiling buds and eating leaves. 



It is e\ident that this pest must be 

 checked and destro3-ed in winter. This 

 may be done by turning up the soil and 

 dressing with lime, soot, soapsuds &c., 

 and by dressing the bark, paying particular 

 attention to the crevices, with the washes 

 recommended for American BUght. Ban- 

 dages of tarred cloth, hay, or straw round 

 the stem will prevent the female beetles, 

 which cannot fly very well, or not at all, 

 crawling up to the flower buds. Where 

 they are in great numbers, tarred sheets 



