216 
THE CULTIVATOR 
The Apple Tree Worm— Carpocapsapomonella —Larva; nat. size a; n 
feet insect e; magnified/; larva; in a young apple g • larva; feeding 
The insects we have now described, have been depre¬ 
dators on the foliage or the wood only, the canker worm 
excepted; but there is another most mischievous enemy 
of the apple, that attacks the fruit only, and where it pre¬ 
vails is known as the apple worm. It is a true caterpil¬ 
lar, not a grub, like the plum and cherry weevils; and is 
the larvae of the moth called Carpocapsa pomonella, the 
codling or fruit moth. A good description of this worm, 
with -figures, which are copied above, may be found at 
230 of Kollar’s work on insects. In some years this ap¬ 
ple worm has been so common in New-England, that a 
very large part of the apples were rendered worthless by 
it. It is very rare in the interior of the States, but we 
have occasionally met with it, and it is to be apprehend¬ 
ed it will become still more common. The moth ap¬ 
pears in the latter part of June, or beginning of July, 
and without puncturing the fruit, deposit their eggs in 
the hollow at the blossom end of the fruit, where the 
skin is most tender, and the worm the least liable to dis¬ 
turbance. As soon as the worm is hatched, which is in 
a few days, it commences eating into the young fruit, 
making their way from the eye towards the core, and 
:ready magnified b; larva; enclosed in a silk web c ; chrysalis d; per- 
( n the pulpy part of the apple li, ?; larva; k ; quits the fruit at l. 
marking its presence by the powder thrown out of the 
opening. The moth seems to prefer early to late apples, 
and the thin-skinned summer fruits suffer the most ex¬ 
tensively. In the course of two or three weeks, the 
worm has burrowed to the core, and attained its full size. 
To get rid of the matters made in its excavations, it cuts 
a round hole through the side of the apple, and thus is 
enabled to keep its burrow clear. Sometimes the worm 
leaves the apple before it falls, but usually the injury it 
has received causes it to fall prematurely, when the worm 
quits it, and spins a cocoon, in which it changes to a 
chrysalid, and in a few days more, the perfect insect ap¬ 
pears, to renew the work of destruction. These are on¬ 
ly the earliest ones; the later ones do not perfect their 
transformations till the ensuing spring. The surest mode 
of destroying the apple worm, is to allow swine to run 
in the orchard, to gather all the fruit that first falls; or 
where this cannot be done, to pick them up by hand and 
feed them to some animal. The plum weevil and the 
apple worm are distinct insects. The plum weevil has 
been found in the apple, but the apple worm never in the 
plum.— Gaylord's Prize Essay . 
COTTON GIN. 
Messrs. Editors:-— In the number of the Cultivator 
for this month, I observe an inquiry from Central Amer¬ 
ica, in relation to the cotton gin mentioned in my letter of • 
1842. I regret the information I have to give will not| 
be very satisfactory. The model gin is yet in the hands 1 
of the inventor and patentee. He makes none, and so' 
far as I know, will not allow any other person. There; 
can be no doubt but this gin would answer for Sea Island; 
cotton, as the least amount I have heard suggested for a 
day, is 150 pounds of clean cotton. The quantity ishow- 
ever, uncertain, as the inventor has never permitted it 
tested. He has told me it will clear 250. If this can be 
attained, it would abundantly answer for uplands. The 
gin would cost about $75. In the fall of 1842, a compa¬ 
ny purchased from the patentee its use for two counties, 
for which they paid him $5000, with the privilege in a 
given time to this State, if they so determined, for $50,- 
000. This company sent on an agent, with the inventor, | 
who by agreement was to superintend the construction of 
certain number of gins in Paterson,N. J. On getting there, 
a disagreement took place, and the model being in the pos¬ 
session of the patentee, he would not let the agent have it, & 
returned the money, and so far as I know none were made. 
I have heard it suggested, indeed it is said to be the re¬ 
mark of a Sea Island cotton planter, that they do not 
want if, as it would reduce the price of that species of 
cotton. The inventor is here now, and too busily en¬ 
gaged in perfecting other machinery, to remember any 
former matter of his ingenuity. The last made public, is 
a pump for lifting water, and this I consider the perfec¬ 
tion of that machine. It is simple, efficient and durable 
—it is not bounded by quantity or height. The longest 
in use here, is 32 feet. This a child can work, raising 
34- i nc h column. I am sure a man’s strength woubi 
raise 1^ inch column, 100 feet. J. B. Cook. 
Dcmopolis, Ala., May 25, 1844. 
A STRAW BAND MAKER. 
Messrs. Editors —This little inslrument which I 
have used with success, (invented by a friend of mine) 
performs what it was designed for. With the aid of this 
a band of any required length may be made of short 
straw, from the threshing machine or flail. It requires 
two persons to make bands: one to let the straw out, the 
other to twist, somewhat similar to making a tow string. 
When drawn out the required length and twisted, the 
band should be doubled and let twirl. This will keep 
the twist till the band is wanted to be used single. To 
form the instrument, round a piece of iron one half inch 
thick and about eighteen inches in length, form a hook 
on one end and make it small and sharp at the point. 
The hook is one and a half inches in diameter, with 
three quarters of an inch opening to receive the straw. 
Bore a piece of wood five inches long 1 for a handle A, 
to turn on the iron next the hook; bend the remaining 
part of your iron B nearly at a right angle with die first 
bend A, five inches in length; bend the remaining part 
of your iron C at a right angle with the last bend B. On 
this you may have a wooden handle as before or not, as 
you choose. John M. Harlan. 
Chester county, Penn., May 17, 1844. 
Anti-Magnetic Property of the Onion. —The 
magnetic power of a compass needle will be entirely dis¬ 
charged or changed, by being touched with the juice of 
an onion. 
