1811 . 
THE CIDER TRAP FOR CODLING MOTH. 
On page 45S G. W. Herrick said that it was unfortu¬ 
nate for this theory that the Codling moth prefers 
sweetened material, such as syrup and nectar of flowers. I 
think I have come as near living in the orchard for the 
last 25 years as any man in the country, and I never saw 
a Codling moth on the wing taking nectar from flowers in 
the daytime; and I do not think anyone else ever did. If 
you ever see Codling moth on the wing in the daytime, it 
is when you scare one from their hiding place, and then 
they are off, and hidden again. lie says that there are 
hundreds of small moths flying at night that resemble 
Codling moth. I think that is a theory, for the Codling 
moth is different from all other kinds of moths. The 
Codling moth is gray in color, flecked with darker dots 
and bars; there is a copper colored spot on the end of its 
wings, which will always enable anyone to distinguish 
it from any other moth. Apples are the Codling moth’s 
natural food; the moth takes to the apple juice the 
same as it did to the apple pulp in its larva state. I 
would like to have Prof. Herrick give us the life and 
characteristics of the Codling moth. 
Kansas. pekry nixox. 
I am aware that it is quite true that Codling moths 
are not generally seen during the day. 
They rest on the foliage of the trees, 
and take flight when disturbed, but soon 
settle again in some secluded place. It 
has been shown, however, that the Cod¬ 
ling moth lays most of its eggs in the 
“late afternoon or early evening.” This 
would indicate considerable activity 
during the late afternoon and early 
evening. But this habit of flying after 
sundown would not prevent the moths 
from visiting flowers at night, or from 
feeding on other materials at night. In 
fact, if they feed upon the cider in the 
pans or on the sweet juice of ripe 
apples, they probably do so largely at 
night. It is a common thing to see cer¬ 
tain moths about honeysuckles, after the 
day is done and dusk has come, sucking 
up the nectar with their long probosces. 
It is quite probable that night-flying 
moths procure what little food they eat 
during the night, and very likely the 
Codling moth does the same. The im¬ 
portant point is, however, that, so far 
as any one knows, the Codling moth 
eats very little food. It lives for a few 
days, not to eat, but evidently only for 
the purpose of laying its eggs to pro¬ 
vide for another generation of larvae to 
insure its existence on the earth. The 
results of all the experiments for bait¬ 
ing and trapping the moths show that 
they care so little for food that it has 
not been possible to attract them to 
food-baits in sufficient numbers to pay 
for the expense of setting the traps in 
the orchard as described. 
Mr. C. B. Simpson, special investi¬ 
gator for the U. S. Bureau of Ento¬ 
mology, who has investigated this sub¬ 
ject for years, and has written a most 
exhaustive report on the Codling moth 
(Bulletin No. 41, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology), 
has this to say regarding traps and baits 
for this insect: “It is also the practice 
to some extent to put cans or bottles 
containing molasses, cider, vinegar, or 
some other substance of similar nature 
in the orchard, and upon finding that 
insects are attracted to these compounds 
and killed, many fruit growers think 
this is a good remedy for the Codling 
moth. The results of many careful ex¬ 
periments show that only incidental cap¬ 
tures of the Codling moth are made. With both these 
last two practices—that is, trap lanterns and baiting 
the moths—the greatest trouble has been that the fruit 
growers are not acquainted with the Codling moth in 
its early stages. Any fruit grower can breed moths 
for himself, and by comparing his catch can very 
easily satisfy himself.” 
Personally, I am open to conviction on the point of 
the cider pans and crocks as traps for the Codling 
moth. It is true that these moths have been occasion¬ 
ally seen to apparently feed upon sweet cider from 
very ripe apples. If the writer of the foregoing letter 
will send me some of the moths that he catches in 
the pans, I would be very glad to examine them and 
determine just what they are if possible. I hope the 
Codling moth can be caught in numbers in just this 
way before they get an opportunity to lay their eggs. 
It will soon be time for the trees to bloom, and Mr. 
Nixon can show us what his traps will do—just how 
many Codling moths he catches each night in each 
pan. His description of the Codling moth leads me 
to believe that he knows it when he sees it, and leads 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
me to take a deep interest in his method of catching 
the moths. It is surely a thing that can easily be 
demonstrated one way or the other. I will gladly ex¬ 
amine the moths that are caught in the pans, or let 
some one else examine them and make a report. 
GLENN W. HERRICK. 
A SMALL SUMMER SILO. 
The proposition of a large Summer silo and a herd 
of cows, is an easy one to solve, but with a five-cow 
dairy it is more difficult to adjust. As silage and 
silos are better understood, it is fair to presume that 
with what has been accomplished, the matter will 
soon be in a practical shape. First, Summer silage 
must be made of pretty close to mature fodder. It 
should be about right to go into the shock, like field 
corn for husking. It should be cut very fine, so as to 
settle and pack solid, so that in the heating process 
the air is all expelled. Especially for Summer silage, 
it must be well mixed and distributed, so as not to be 
“bunchy” either with leaves, grain or stalks. With a 
few head of cattle the silo must be small. For the 
man who feeds 200 pounds per day, one six feet in 
diameter would be large enough. The feeding would 
settle the pit at least two inches a day. If I were he 
I would have in addition to the cows, a bunch of 
small steers, or some heifers, and fatten for the 
butcher at the same time, and use a larger silo. My 
own practice is not to sell “dry” cows in the Fall, but 
feed them liberally on well-eared silage until March, 
feeding no additional grain—silage and clover hay, and 
sell for beef, at a fine profit. 
With the small silo fermenting of the top layer of 
silage can be held in check by sprinkling over the 
surface of the silo after feeding a pail of water, pos¬ 
sibly two, using a garden sprinkler. Another way is 
to cut down the silage, feeding from a half only, put¬ 
ting some wet chaff or orts on the unused half. When 
down four feet, change sides and feed from that 
side. The silage along the perpendicular cut side 
will not damage appreciably if care is taken not to 
loosen up this side wall. I had very good luck one 
643 
Summer by feeding from the whole surface, using an 
old tarpaulin to cover the silage. This kept the air 
from it. If the top of the silo is covered closely, 
leaving the side doors only open, half of the “battle” 
will be won in advance. The real solution is to keep 
a few head more stock, use a little larger silo, and 
when you are in doubt about anything, write to The 
R. N.-Y. JOHN GOULD. 
Ohio. 
SOME FACTS ABOUT POTATOES. 
The Colorado Experiment Station has issued Bul¬ 
letin 175, entitled “The Potato Industry.” This is 
one of the best pamphlets on potato growing that 
has yet been issued, as it gives many interesting 
things not found in the ordinary potato books. This 
week we are interested in what is brought out re¬ 
garding the botany of the potato. Most of us know 
that the potato is closely related to the tobacco, to¬ 
mato and to the nightshade and egg plant. Many of 
our readers still come asking questions 
which show that they consider the tuber 
of the potato as a root. Botanically 
the potato is a tuber or an enlargement 
of a stem or branch, normally under¬ 
ground, but sometimes above. The tuber 
which we eat has no connection with the 
root system of the plant, and when this 
is considered we may see how spraying 
the vine of the plant above ground may 
affect the growth of the tuber. As is 
well known, the tubers vary greatly in 
shape and in their habit of growth be¬ 
low ground. Some, like Rural New- 
Yorker No. 2, go deeply into the ground, 
and are of a round or chunky shape; 
others spread out near the surface and 
vary greatly in length. Most of us have 
observed that the thick and chunky 
tubers arc more likely to have a hollow 
heart or a black spot in the center than 
the long and slim potato. We also 
know how the tubers vary in the 
arrangement and strength’ of their buds 
or eyes. Potatoes of the Rural New- 
Yorker type have most of the strong 
eyes grouped at one end, so that when 
the tubers are cut for seed it is neces¬ 
sary to cut down lengthwise of the 
tuber in order to give a strong eye or 
bud to each piece. On the other hand, 
the long slim type of tuber carries 
strong eyes or buds all over, and such 
tubers may be cut in a different way, 
making much more seed than tubers of 
the round or chunky type. 
Potatoes vary greatly in the way the 
tubers develop in the soil. At Fig. ... 
may be found three types of growth. 
The Rural type at the top spreads, a 
little away from the bottom of the stem, 
and yet is crowded closely around it, 
forming deeply into the soil. The Pearl 
type shown at the bottom is clustered 
closely around the stem, not so deep in 
the ground, but easily dug with a single 
turn of a fork, as they are crowded 
closely around the old seed piece. On 
the other hand, the Peachblow type, as 
shown in the center, spreads or sprawls 
the potatoes in all directions, with long 
underground stems, frequently making 
two or three tubers on the same stem 
at one time. We grew the Rural Blush, 
which is of the Peachblow type. We 
found this probably the best quality of 
potato in existence. It kept well, was dry and full of 
starch and would always cook “mealy.” It was also 
a fair yielder, but it requires about three times as 
much work to dig the tubers as was required for the 
Rural New-Yorker, for as shown in the picture these 
tubers were scattered all over the row. Many of 
them were quite badly injured by late cultivation, and 
could not be perfectly dug by the ordinary potato 
digger. In fact since potato diggers came into gen¬ 
eral use it is a great advantage to have a type of po¬ 
tato which forms its tubers close together, so that the 
nose of the digger may easily get under them and lift 
them out. There are many other points in this bulleti 
which may well be brought out, and we shall discuss 
them later. Just now we call attention to the peculiar 
looking tool shown at Fig. 224. This is a ditcher with 
side wings used to cover small potato plants when 
there is danger of frost. 
With a dry wind blowing and a crust on the ground 
you may lose 200 barrels of water per day from the soil. 
You cannot afford it. Most of it can be saved by keeping 
the surface of the soil stirred up. 
A FIELD OF MILLET—FULL GROWTH. Fig. 226. 
A WHITE “ROCK” THAT IS WORTH WHILE. Fig. 227. 
