278 
EXTRACTS—NATURAL HISTORY. 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
American Blight. —(Eviosoma Mali.) In very hot weather, you may now 
and then see this blight on the wing. It has the appearance of a bit of cotton, 
or a downy seed, floating in the air, and is as readily driven about by every 
breath of wind. If it come in contact with the branch of an apple-tree, it will 
there stick, and after creeping into a crack in the bark, will bring forth its young, 
and found a colony. The white cotton then soon appears in large bunches; 
branch after branch becomes infected, the tree grows cankery, pines, and dies. 
By what process this is effected no one knows, though the cause and effect are 
too evident to escape the notice of the veriest clown. In large orchards, it is 
vain to hope for a cure, though not so in gardens. So soon as you see the least 
morsel of cotton, you should make up your mind to a little trouble, and you may 
get rid of it. In the first place, take a plasterer’s whitewashing brush, and hav¬ 
ing procured a large pot of double size, heat it till it becomes a liquid, and then 
paint over every patch of white, though it be no bigger than a sixpence. The 
next morning, let the size-pot be heated again, and renew the search for the 
enemy. Repeat the practice every morning for a fortnight, and you must suc¬ 
ceed, for I have tried this method, and know it to be effectual. Spirit of tar has 
been used with partial effect, and so has resin. Whitewashing has been often 
resorted to, and, as it contains some size, it is not entirely useless; besides, some 
horticulturalists think it ornamental, though I entertain a different opinion.— 
Rusticus.— Entomol. Mag. 
Moth infesting Apple-Trees. —This is a beautiful little creature, its wings 
are studded with silvery shining specks, as though inlaid with precious gems. 
To find the moth in the day-time, the trunks of the apple-ti’ees should be care¬ 
fully looked over j or if your orchard be surrounded by a wooden fence, it may 
frequently be found sitting against it, with its pretty wings neatly folded round 
it. Towards evening; in fact, just at sunset, it begins to move, and may then be 
seen hovering about the little apples, which, by the time the moth leaves the 
chrysalis, (the middle of June) are well knit, and consequently fit for the recep¬ 
tion of the eggs. It lays these in the eyes, only one in each, by introducing its 
long ovipositor between the leaves of the calyx, which form a tent above it that 
effectually shields it from the weather or any other casualty. As soon as the egg 
hatches, the little grub gnaws a hole in the crown of the apple, and soon buries 
itself in the substance. It is worthy of remark, that the rind of the apple, as if 
to afford every facility to the destroyer, is thinner here than in any other part, 
and consequently more easily pierced. 
The grub, controlled by an unvarying instinct, eats into the apple obliquely 
downwards, and thus by avoiding the cone and pips in no way hinders its growth. 
At first it makes but slow progress, being little bigger than a thread, blit after a 
fortnight its size and operations are much increased. By this time, it will have 
eaten half way down the apple, and the position of the hole at the top, if the 
apple continue upright or nearly so, is found inconvenient for a purpose it has 
up to this time been used for, viz. as a pass to get rid of its excrement, which 
resembles fine saw dust or coarse sand. Another communication with the outer 
air is therefore required, and it must be so constructed as to allow the power of 
gravity to assist in keeping it clear. This is accordingly made directly down 
