710 



Orchard and Bush Fruit Pests. [march, 



the sawfly larva, which is easily recognized by its greater num- 

 ber of legs, attacks several apples during its growth. Nothing 

 so far has been found to check its increase in plantations ; in 

 fact, from what we know of its life-history, the only preventive 

 measures are hand-picking the attacked fruitlets and removal of 

 surface soil, the latter an impossibility in a plantation widely 

 attacked. Some experiments are being conducted to see if 

 bisulphide injections in the soil will kill the larvae during the 

 v/inter months. It might be possible by means of lime-washing 

 to sufficiently retard blossoming until the sawflies have mostly 

 ha'xhed out and died. I have been unable to gather any 

 information as to this pest elsewhere than the two counties 

 mentioned. 



Pear Midge. — The pear midge {Diplosis pyrivora) has been 

 abnormally prevalent in Surrey, but in the Western Counties it 

 has not been so common as usual. In some years this Cecid 

 has destroyed most of the dessert and perry pear crop. The 

 destruction of blossom by frost in 1905 gave them no breeding 

 ground and thus reduced their numbers. The result was that a 

 fair sprinkling of pears matured last year. A similar result 

 was noticed in a large Surrey plantation, where pears were 

 gathered for the first time for some years. It was recorded 

 from Cheshire, Hampshire, Worcestershire, Surrey, Devon, 

 Essex, and Kent in 1906. Unfortunately, it works high up 

 on old perry pear trees, and as it is impossible to deal with 

 these the pest is likely to continue where such old trees occur. 

 It is just as bad where land is cultivated as where the trees are 

 grown in grass. Varied reports have reached me concerning 

 kainit as a remedy ; so diverse are they that we may safely 

 assume that the pest has been checked by other causes than 

 the kainit. There is no doubt that benefit can only be derived 

 from any treatment by the concerted action of growers in each 

 district. The best plan is to forego a possible crop by heavily 

 spraying the blossom with arsenates as soon as it shows, before 

 the bees get at it. This will kill it and thus prevent the 

 maturing of the maggots. 



Gooseberry Cecid. — From near Ledbury an interesting new 

 attack has been reported in gooseberries. The tips of the 

 shoots and the buds were found to die off. The damage was 



