ON KEEPING ORCHARDS CLEAN. 



2 9 



uninjured, no worm in it, no decay commencing, and be able to store 

 every one ; but we are all so used to the present state of things that 

 we cannot easily realize such an ideal condition. 



In this country one thinks of an orchard as a pleasant spot, whether 

 in winter, when the trunks are in their full beauty, or there is snow ; in 

 spring, when the sheet of white or pink-tinged blossom is in its full 

 glory ; in high summer, when one sleeps afternoons in the deep shade ; 

 or in later summer, when the fruit hangs golden or fire-red amid the 

 tinted foliage. One thinks of an orchard as a pleasant, grassy place, 

 the trunks covered with moss and lichen, the branches gnarled and 

 twisted, the trees of varied kinds growing in what were once lines, 

 but now free from any stiff and formal order. 



This is the old-world orchard, attached usually to the old garden, 

 and having one marked characteristic, the uncertainty of the yield 

 of fruit, and the doubtful quality of the fruit that is got. 



One may contrast this with other orchards, of young trees or of 

 trees in full bearing ; in these, orderly lines of trees of the same age, 

 the trunks smooth and clean, the branches straight, with even bark 

 and clean lines ; the trees in blocks of one variety or in rows of 

 alternating kinds, of similar height and growth ; and, below, clean 

 tilled soil, or bushes and bulbs, or some other ground crop. 



This is the business orchard, grown for one purpose, to yield 

 fruit, whether for the market or the home, and it is in this orchard 

 that the most is won for the use of man, and the least given to the 

 voracious insect hordes that seek to possess it. 



It is my business to-day to show why it is that the delightful old 

 orchard is the haunt of insects, and how directly cleanliness and 

 clean cultivation affect the yield of fruit. 



We all know in a general way that in summer insects are busy, 

 and that in winter most are dormant ; but where are they exactly, 

 and in what stage do they pass this period of defenceless inactivity ? 

 The diagrams (figs. 25-29) show for each tree the position of the 

 dormant form of the principal pests. 



The Apple. — When one sees an apple tree covered with snow one 

 is apt to imagine that there can be no insects upon it ; in figure 25 

 are shown the winter forms of the best-known pests. 



The Lackey-Moth has laid its ring of eggs and the Vapourer may 

 in summer have laid eggs on its cocoon ; in late winter the eggs of 

 the Winter Moth, the Mottled Umber, and other Geometers will be 

 found ; the young caterpillar of the Bud Moth is in its winter case at 

 the base of the bud ; the Brown-tail caterpillars are in their nest 

 among the twigs ; the Pith Moth caterpillar is in the twig, and stretched 

 on the bark of the branches are the young caterpillars of the Lappet 

 Moth ; further down, the tiny caterpillars of the Ermine Moth are 

 sheltering under the old egg-shells, and, beneath the bark scales, the 

 Codling larva has spun its shelter and is waiting, as a caterpillar, till 

 the spring. The Gold-tail caterpillars are hidden in crevices of the 

 bark, and such occasional pests as the Grey Trident may be wintering 



