Packard.] THE population of AN APPLE TREE. 185 
the weather during the month of July prove to be dry and 
hot, as it frequently is, the damage is much more extensive, 
whole orchards and forests perishing.” In 1853 the worms 
“continued in full force until the night of the 23d of June, 
when brisk showers occurred, accompanied with heavy thun¬ 
der, terminating the drouth which had prevailed, and with 
this the worms suddenly disappeared.” In one orchard a 
thousand bushels of apples were destroyed, that being the 
usua^ yield. “When they are young these worms eat only 
the green pulpy tissues of the leaf, leaving its net-work of 
veins entire. But as they become larger and more robust 
they consume the whole of the leaf, except the coarse veins. 
It is the 3 r oung and tender leaves, however, which grow at 
or near the tips of the limbs, which they prefer; the older 
and tougher leaves are commonly eaten only at their tip 
ends, and have irregular holes of various sizes gnawed in 
them, some of these holes being no larger than a puncture 
made with a pin. The green succulent ends of the twigs 
are also frequently eaten off. And the young apples, which 
were nearly as large as walnuts when these worms made 
their appearance, almost without exception had either round 
holes or larger irregular cavities gnawed in their surface. 
Thus wounded they wilt and fall from the tree, a few only 
having the wounds so slight that they recover and remain 
upon the tree until they ripen.” 
The moth into which the Palmer worm transforms closely 
resembles the Gelechia of the granaries. It is of an ash 
gray color, with six or seven equidistant black dots at the 
base of the fringe on the outer edge of the wing. In the 
middle of the wing are four larger dark dots, which are 
placed obliquely with regard to each other; the wings ex¬ 
pand between a half and three-quarters of an inch. It 
belongs to the family of Tineids, which have small, narrow 
wings” with long, silky fringes. The common clothes moth 
is a” type of the family. Fitch recommends showering the 
