March 16, 1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



221 



doubtless tlie last course to ipursue with 

 this pest, and when established in the 

 flower trusses the only spray that can he 

 used with safety is a nicotine tolution, 



American Blight.— The woolly aphis is too 

 ^vell known to need description, and 

 thougli it does not appear to injure an old 



WINTKK MOTH (Cheima-tobia bnimata). 

 C:»torpiIl;ir, Winged Male, and Wingleisfi Female. 



tree it is fatal to a young one, as it stunts 

 ixrowth, causes ugly .s>wellings to appear on 

 I he shoots, and is the forerunner of canker. 

 The trouble with American blight is to 



reach the insects Iby means of a sprayer^ 

 as it secretes itself in holes and crevices, 

 and when warm weather comes the hateful 

 cotton wool-like substance appears on the 

 Trees. There is no single season for fight- 

 ing American hlight, which should be at- 

 tacked at all times- Spring spraying does 

 something to prevent it, hut when the pest 

 appears in the summer there is nothing 

 better than touching the patches of blight 



with a small brush dipped in methylated 

 spirit. 



Winter Moth Caterpillar.— Of all the 



pests that bite there is none so bad as this 



<>ne. It is not particular as regards 



food, for it attacks apples, pears, and stone 



fruit, and in the Forest of Dean I have 



seen stretches of oak trees entirely defoli- 

 ated by it. 



age of fruit trees by this pest 

 ^serious. The first means of dealing with 

 It is a preventive one, and consists of 

 grease-handing trees early in October to 

 catch the female moths as they ascend the 

 trunks to lay eggs in the hranches. Per- 

 iiaps grease-handing is more general in 

 that famous fruit-growing district in the 

 i-vesham Vale than anywhere, and every 

 jear thousands of moths are' caught by 



The damage done to 



is. . often 



AHK CODLIX MOTH (Oarpoc^psa pomanella). 



Moth and CaterpiUar. 



tS'^ZT'T' y^^^g oaterpillars begin 



after! they are hatch^ out s^n 



5ea1in!r^ tr^^s break, and the best way of 



S "?n 7'^^ V'^"^ ^^^"^ -to poison their 



^to^f l^/^'^^r P'-epared ar- 



^nate of lead, used according to the dirpo- 



tions 



ed by insecticide manufac- 



turers, is the handiest stuff to use, and the 

 spraying should be done before the flowers 

 open, as the caterpillars are only conmienc- 

 ing to feed then, hut another spraying may 

 l3e necessary after the fruits 

 have set. Before thev jeach 

 maturity winter moth cater- 

 pillars may he destroyed by 

 spraying with weak paraffin 

 emidsion and also bv several 



t h ey com mence<:l feeding by sy ri n ging 

 forcibly with iMcDougalTs friiit tree wash* 

 Mussel Scale. — Young apple trees may 

 quickly suffer in health if the bark is al- 

 lowed to become covered with muss-el scale. 



fruit 



tree 



propi'ietary 

 washes. 



Codlin Moth Caterpillar. 

 — Most people are ac- 

 quainted with those apples 

 whicli fall prematurely ripe 

 from the trees, and Imred 

 with the tell-tale holes that 

 are the work of the cater- 

 l)illar mentioned above. For 

 this pest I believe a March 

 spraying with lime or a caus- 

 tic solution is good as a pre- 

 ventive, as the number of 

 hiding-places of the enemy 

 are reduced ; but after all 

 precautions have been 

 taken, in some seasons the 

 hateful maggots commence 



work of boring the 

 the eyes, and the}' then 



to the core in the 

 this hannens. there 



MTSSKI. SCALE ^U'pidosapheis ulnii) ON APPLE. 



their 



w a y 

 When 



like poison, and nothing so 



apples at 

 eat their 

 interior. 



IS 



nothing 

 good 



and it is often found under and near the 

 bands where standard trees are tied to the 

 stakes. March is the best time to deal 

 with it^ either by means of lime spraymg 

 or one of the proprietary caustic solutions 

 that are sold for winter spraying. 



Apple Blossom Weevil. — Kvery year this 

 pest takes its toll of the apple crop, and 

 if the flowers the petals of which turn 

 brown and fail to expand are examined, 

 the white grub of the weevil will be found 

 inside. We have yet to find a real remedy 

 for this pest ; but lime spraying in March 



does some good 



of the 



ing up many of the harbouring pi 

 pest, and secondly^ by retarding somewhat 

 the opening of the buds. 



— Noted for their 



m a r veUo us 

 the different 



Aphis. 



powers of multiplication, 

 members of this family, such as the apple 

 aphis, plum aphis, and cherry aphis, are 

 common enemies of the fruit grower. In 

 dealing with aphis there should he one 



rule, i.e.^ deal promptly, because a score 

 yesterday may mean a thousand to-morrow. 

 In the case of aphis on fruit trees, lime 



ONE OF THE TENT CATERPILLARS. 



SMALL APPLE ERMINE MOTH (HyponomcuU 



malivore'Tla), ^loth and Cat^^ri)!!!^^. 



spraying in March is beneficial, as it stops 

 some of the species from hatching, and 

 afterwards nicotine wash, the well-known 

 soft ^oap and quassia, not to mention a 

 number of proprietary washes, will destroy 

 aphis 'but the snravins: should not ibe nee:- 



an arsenate of lead wash applied with a 

 sprayer. The spraying should rot be de- 

 layed until the calyx of the small fruit has 

 closed in, but it should be done immedi- 

 ately the flower has set. The poisonous 

 liquid then lodges in the eye of the fruit, 

 and is fatal to the grubs located there. 

 There is one further remedy, i.e., destroy 

 grub-^bored apples, which frequently have 

 the maggots in them when they fall ; and if 

 growers would form a coalition to do this, 

 the codlin moth population would be con- 

 siderably reduced. 



Tent Caterpillars.— Tliese are the larva^ 



of the Lackey and Ermine moths, which 

 feed inside their web-like tents at the ends 

 of shoots. The eggs of these moths may 

 often be found when pruning in hands and 

 patclies on young shoots, protected by a 

 coating of gum. A coating of lime-wasii 

 will often prevent the eggs from Jiatching, 

 and last season I effectually put an end to 

 both Lackev and Ermine caterpillar when 



APPLE BLOSSOM WEEVIL 

 (Anthonoinuc.- poniorum). 



le<*ted until the trees are sticky masses of 

 honeydew and filth. 



Fruit Diseases and Fungricides, 



In addition to ht inu; a fightor of insect 

 foes, the fruit grower in thes*^ <]ays ha^s to be 

 something of a doctor as wt'll. for fruit 



