CITIZENS OF THE APPLE-TREE 93 



ing operation, tend to keep the tree vigorous and the 

 bark properly exfoliated. 



So the worm in the apple has a delicate and interest- 

 ing history. From egg to imago the transformations pro- 

 ceed with regularity, and they are marvelous. Had we 

 not traced the sequence, no man could tell by appear- 

 ances that the larva, the pupa and the moth are one and 

 the same animal. They seem to have nothing in common. 

 So is the egg stage as different as the other three, but 

 we are measurably prepared for this epoch, since we 

 know seeds so well ; the egg and the seed are analagous. 

 That a moth in the air should come from a crawling 

 worm in an apple is indeed one of the miracles of nature. 

 The worm leaves the apple ere it falls; how the worm 

 knows the time is again a mystery. By some instinct, 

 it is able to cognize a dying apple. The later worms, 

 either the lastlings from the early brood or the product 

 of subsequent broods, may remain in the apple when it 

 is harvested, particularly in an apple picked before it is 

 quite mature and from which the worm has not escaped. 



The apple-worm ruins the crop by killing many of the 

 fruits and by blemishing the remainder. Seldom are 

 there two worms in an apple. They seem to respect each 

 other's hunting-ground. From the worm's point of view 

 and from man's, one is enough. 



If man has dominion and if he needs apples, then 

 is he within his rights if he joins issue with the insects. 

 Yet is the insect as interesting for all that. I think we 

 should miss many of the satisfactions of life, and cer- 

 tainly some of the disciplines, if there were no insects. 

 My apple-tree is a great place for a naturalist. Van 

 Bruyssel wrote a book on "The Population of an Old 



