PRESERVING THE FRUIT. 
6 ? 
numbers in the warm evenings of the 1st of June, and lay then 
eggs in the eye or blossom-end of the young fruit, especially of 
the early kinds of apples and pears. In a short time, these eggs 
hatch, and the grub burrows its way till it reaches the core : 
the fruit then ripens prematurely, and drops to the ground. 
Here the worm leaves the fruit and creeps into the crevices of 
the bark and hollow of the tree, and spins its cocoon, which 
usually remains there till the ensuing spring, when the young 
moth again emerges from it. The readiest way of destroying 
them, when it can be done conveniently, is to allow swine and 
poultry to run at large in the orchards when the premature fruit 
is falling ; or otherwise, the fruit may be picked up daily and 
placed where the worms will be killed. It is said that if an old 
cloth is placed in the crotch of the tree about the time the fruit 
begins to drop, the apple worm will make it a retiring place, 
and thousands may be caught and killed from time to time. 
As the cocoons are deposited chiefly under the old loose bark, 
the thorough cultivator will take care, by keeping the trunks of 
his trees smooth, to afford them little harbour ; and by scraping 
and washing the trunks early in the spring, to destroy such as 
may have already taken up their quarters there. 
When the fruit of orchards is much liable to the attacks of 
this insect we cannot too much insist on the efficacy of small 
bonfires lighted in the evening, by which myriads of this and all 
other moths may be destroyed, before they have time to deposit 
their eggs and cause worm-eaten fruit. 
The Blight which occasionally kills suddenly the ends of the 
limbs of the apple and the quince, appears to be caused by an 
insect similar to that which produces the fire blight of the pear, 
and must be treated in the same way as directed for that tree. 
Gathering and keeping the fruit. In order to secure 
soundness and preservation, it is indispensably necessary that 
the fruit should be gathered by hand. For winter fruit the 
gathering is delayed as long as possible, avoiding severe frosts, 
and the most successful practice with our extensive orchardists 
is to place the good fruit directly, in a careful manner, in new, 
tight flour barrels as soon as gathered from the tree. These 
barrels should be gently shaken while filfing, and the head 
closely pressed in ; they are then placed in a cool shady expo- 
sure under a shed open to the air, or on the north side of a 
building, protected by covering of boards over the top, where 
they remain for a fortnight, or until the cold becomes too severe, 
when they are carefully transferred to a cool, dry cellar, in 
which air can be admitted occasionally in brisk weather. 
A cellar, for this purpose, should be dug in dry, gravelly, or 
sandy soil, with, if possible, a slope to the north ; or, at any 
rate, with openings on the north side for the admission of air 
very rarely in weather not excessively cold. Here the barrels 
