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apple blossoms are falling from the trees. The eggs are 

 laid on the young apple usually at the blossom end. 

 These hatch in a very short time and the young worm at 

 once begins to eat its way into the fruit. As the apple 

 grows the worm develops and seems thoroughly to enjoy 

 its home. The presence of the worm in the fruit is easily 

 determined by the casting from the burrows and by the 

 early ripening of the fruit. This premature ripening 

 may cause the fruit to drop before it fully develops. In 

 any case the apples which are so affected may safely be 

 considered worthless. It would be an interesting little 

 lesson in nature study if you should pick some young 

 apples so infested and study the character and mark- 

 ings of the insect and the nature of its work. Tie a 

 muslin bag over an infested apple hanging on a limb 

 and watch for the appearance of the moth which will 

 soon develop from the worm in the apple. As you exam- 

 ine the pretty wings of this gay little creature try to 

 estimate the amount of damage which an old mother 

 moth can do by laying her eggs upon the young apples 

 and thus giving life to many destructive worms. Our 

 next lesson will tell you of a very effective way of protect- 

 ing the fruit from this pest. 



One of the most destructive of leaf-eating insects is 

 the canker worm, which is very common in neglected 

 apple orchards at this season of the year. It is a dark 

 brown measuring worm and when mature is about an inch 

 long. Jar the limbs of an apple tree and you will soon 

 discover several worms for study. Whenever they are 

 disturbed they lower themselves from the limb by a silken 

 thread and dangle at some distance from it until they 

 consider the danger past. 



I hope that the acquaintances you form in the insect 

 world this summer may arouse your interest sufficiently 

 to insure your starting a school collection of insects 

 injurious to fruits. Your teacher will gladly help you 

 with this collection and if you are at a loss for the name 

 of some of your friends send them to the State Entomolo- 

 gist, Urbana, for identification. 



