OCTOBER 18 , 1913 . the gardeners* magazine. 
surrounding them. On this date 1 found an 
interesting case of a blossom from which all 
the petals had fallen, leaving only the calyx 
through which a larva was boring into tne 
Iruitlet. And they proceed even, farther, for 
iu places where gooseberries are grown near 
apple trees, or in orchards under apple trees, 
1 nave found thiat they readily attack the 
gooseberries, and this year they have been 
reported to me as having been attacking 
black currants. 
I also find, in my records for 1912, that 
they were attacking many trees, viz., the 
horse chestnut, lime, sycamore, elm, haw¬ 
thorn. As a matter of fact, they are known 
to attack many other trees outside our or¬ 
chards, but I mention the above as having 
come particularly under my notice in 1912° 
they are sufficient to give us an idea of the 
varied nature of the food plants acceptable 
to the larvae of the Winter Moth. 
By the end of ,June, in the North, the cater¬ 
pillars are mature, and proceed to the ground, 
where they hide under the earth, usually to a 
depth of two or three inches. Last year I 
reared a male and female Winter Moth from 
pupae which were just under the surface of 
the soil. This, however, was under the some¬ 
what artificial oonditioiis of a breeding cage 
in the laboratory, and it is probable that, in 
the open, the larvae usually go farther 
down, as already mentioned. 
1 \ hen iu the soil, they spin round them¬ 
selves a silken cocoon, which will be found 
covered with particles of earth. Soon after¬ 
wards the larva inside changes into a brown 
pupa, and it is from this pupa that the adult 
moth emerges at the latter part of the year 
(October to January). 
II.—The Codlin Moth (Carpo- 
capsa pomonella). 
The Codling Moth is small in size, and may 
be easily identified by examining the wings 
)vhen spread out. The front wings are grey 
m colour, with an oval patch of a dark golden 
hue at the tip of each, while the hind wings 
are of a darker grey, with a slightly golden 
sheen. During the daytime, however, the 
moths may be easily passed by unnoticed, as 
they cling to the undersides of the leaves, or 
f 1 bark of the trees with their wings 
loMed in a roof-like manner. 
The moths may be seen flying in our or¬ 
chards at the time when the apple blossom is 
lalli^, and they are most active towards 
vrhich time the female moths pro- 
^ ^^7 their eggs singly on the apples 
aat are just forming. These eggs, when 
on the side of the fruitlets, are 
wJiire shining bodies, scale.like, and roughly 
oval ia shape ^ 
In a week or ten days a tiny caterpillar 
_ tches from the eggs, which, as a rule, eats 
rough the “ eyeof the apple, and makes a 
^ core. After feeding on tlna 
and the surrounding parts till it is full 
it forms another tunnel from the 
rind, and thus escapes. By this 
however, the vitality of the apple mav 
so destroyed that it falls to the ground, 
ence the caterpillar proceeds to the nearest 
^ ^in its silken cocoon. 
X^^^or, the apple has not fallen to the 
j caterpillar may make its way 
branches and stem until it finds a 
’ in the bark where it may 
itself down to the 
nreans of a silken thread, in which 
^^^(^enerally reasoends the tree to spin 
surin^ ^^terpillars remain thus sheltered till 
brow^’ 'W’hen they change into yellowi^i- 
abaii+'which the moth emerges 
June^ beginning of 
of the Life 
'^'Stones to Methods of Pr 
vention and Remedy. 
the of the esseutial poinis 
itt a ^ ^ftories of these two pests, we j 
^ appreciate more fully i 
»iend^wi f ad<^tii% the methods reco 
^ for meeting the attacks of each. 
I.—The Winter Moth. Grease- 
banding^ as a Preventive. 
The habits, for example, of the Winter 
Moth, clearly suggest a simple means of pre¬ 
vention, viz., the preventing of the wingless 
females from getting up tUe trunks of the 
trees in autumii and winter. It is this pecu¬ 
liarity in the structure of the female Winter 
Moth (the absence of functional wings) that 
has suggested the idea of giea^e-banding. 
Bands, six or seven inches in width, and 
made of grease-proof paper, are tied firmly 
round the trunk of the tree, and then covered 
with a sticky grease. 
There are several “ makes ” of this sticky 
grease on the market, which are claimed to 
possess a more or less permanent stickiness. 
It may be well to note, however, that what¬ 
ever grease is used it is advantageous to 
“comb” the grease with the fingers, so that 
horizontal furrows and ridges are formed on 
the ban<^. 
By so doing, the grower will find that the 
grease will retain its “ stickiness ” for a 
longer period than if left on the paper as 
a uniformly thin layer. 
The position of the bands on the trunks re¬ 
quires consideration. Some growers place 
them high up--four or five feet from the 
ground—while others prefer to have them 
only a foot or so from the ground. The ob¬ 
jection brought forward to having the bands 
placed high up is that many eggs are found 
to be laid in the crevices of the bark below 
the band, and by the time the caterpillars 
from these begin to ascend, the grease has 
lost its “tacky” qualities, so that they can 
crawl over it and reach the boughs. It 
would seem, therefore, that if the bands were 
placed lower down the number of eggs likely 
to be laid would be small, and therefore 
fewer caterpillars would succeed in getting 
over the grease-band in the event of its 
having become dry enough for them to do 
so. One objection to the low band is that, 
where the ground in the orchard is culti¬ 
vated, the band may become covered with 
mud or dust, and, again, it is just possible 
that the males may carry the females safely 
over a low band. 
On the whole, I consider the placing of 
the bands three to five feet from the ground 
preferable ^ placing them so low down— 
providing that the grower makes sure that 
the bands are kept in good working order. 
The bands should, in the North, be on the 
trees by the middle of October, and I would 
here pomt out that one application of grease 
is not enough. As I have said, it is the duty 
of the grower to sae that the grease is in 
proper working order, and whenever it shows 
signs of dying, a second application should 
be put on, probably in December, and again 
in March,’ to prevent any caterpillars that 
may have hatched out below the band from 
ascending, and at the same time to serve 
for catching the March moth. 
Damage from Winter Moth larvae has not 
been so marked this season as compared with 
1912. in Northumberland at least, but Mr. 
Withers, who has ably helped me in adding 
to or confirming the observations I have 
made on the habits of this pest, has reported 
that trees which were grease-banded in 
autumn certainly do show less damage than 
unhand^ tress growing alongside. Careful 
records were kept and the bands caught a 
large number of apterous moths, so that it 
was only to be expected that not so much 
damage would result. 
On October 4, 1912, grease-bands were put 
on four trees that had been specially badly 
damag^ that season, and marked for the 
experiment—two Potts’ Seedlings and two 
Lord Grosvenors. 
On October 22 the bands were sticky and 
effective, and much covered with winged in¬ 
sects, but no Winter Moths; but when ob¬ 
servations were made on November 16, one 
tree had 15 females and many males, the 
next 9 females and many males, the next 
24 females and a few males, while the 
fourth had 19 females and a very few males 
•adhering to the band. On December 7, only 
four females and a few males were caught. 
On February 1, the bands were still kept in 
working order, but iio female had beeii en¬ 
trapped since December 7. 
The number of females caught, as given 
above (71 from the four trees) is exceedingly 
small compared with the numbers given for 
observations in other parts of the country 
in other yearsj but when one considers that 
one female may lay from 150 to 200 eggs or 
more, one can understand how effective 
grease-banding is in preserving our orchards 
from the ravages of Winter Moth cater¬ 
pillars. 
Sprayinfc as a Remedy. 
When the caterpillars are on the twigs, 
which is sure to happen where grease-band¬ 
ing has not been carried out, or has been 
carelessly applied, they can be got rid of 
by spraying the trees with arsenical washes 
from a fine jet. Owing to the scorching 
effect of Paris Green on the leaves, arsenate 
of lead, bought in paste form, is now recom¬ 
mended as being tiie better sprav to use as 
a remedy against the Winter Aioth larvae. 
Where grease-banding is not carried out, 
spraying should begin as soon as the leaves 
appear in order that the caterpillars ma.v 
b© destroyed before they have done any 
damage, and again within 10 days after the 
blossom has fallen. In this way the Codling 
Moth, March Motb, etc., are also coped with. 
II.—The Codling: Moth. 
With regard to the habits of the Codling 
Moth, there are two points to which I wish 
to draw attention. One of these is that on 
leaving the apple on the tree large numbers 
of full-grown caterpillars proceed to crawl 
down the branches to seek shelter in th? 
rough parts of the bark on the stem, or 
they may get to the ground in the manner 
de.scribed and reasceiid. 
This habit has led to the adoption of a 
method of prevention which has been made 
compulsory by law in California and Tas¬ 
mania, viz., to place firmly round the trunks, 
close to the g^und, bands of hay, clean 
.sacking, etc. In order to further encourage 
the catopillars to enter these traps, the tree- 
trunks should be kept free from rough bark. 
The bands are examined periodically during 
summer and autumn, and the caterpillars 
found sheltering in the bands are destroyed. 
The second point is tbat many apples con¬ 
taining the caterpillars fall to the ground, the 
caterpillars escape, and proceed to pupate— 
usually on the tr^ trunks. These “ wind¬ 
falls,” therefore, should be cleared awa.y as 
quickly as possible. 
Here, again, spraying with arsenical 
sprays is to be recommended as a remedy 
when the eggs are on the fruitlets, or against 
any caterpillars that have remained above 
the band. This spraying should take place 
wffile the calyx of the apple is still ojien, 
that is, within a week after the falling of 
th© blossom. The reason for this will be 
seen by referring back to what has been said 
of the life-history of this moth. Suffice it 
to say that the wash will thus be retained 
by the calyx, so that the first “ bite ” of the 
caterpillar will contain the poison which will 
kill it. 
FORTHCOMING ENGAGEMENTS 
NEXT WEEK. 
MONDAY, Ootober 20.—Anmual General il^eting of 
the NiatioTiAl Sweet Pea Society, Hotel Windeor 
V^oria Street, Westanimster, at 2.30 p.m.; 
diianer at 6 p.m.; Couferenoe at 7 p.m., whea 
Mir. J. 8. Brunton will lecture on “ The Sweet 
Pea Inriustry.” 
TU«BSDAY, Ootober 21.—Royal Horticultural So¬ 
ciety; Committees meet at 12 o’clock ; Lecture at 
3 p.m. on “ The Evolution of Plants, and the 
Directivity of Life shown by the Reproductive 
OrgauiS,” by Rev. Prof. G. Henelow, Y.M.H.: 
Scientific Committee at 4 o’clock. 
WEDNESDAY. October 22.—Hereford Fruit and Chry- 
eanthemum Sbow; 
CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
A. J. KEELING AND SONS. BRADFORD.—An in- 
tereetling^ general list of ordhide, illuatrated, with a 
special oflPer of unflowered aeecBliin^. 
JOHN JEFFERIES AND SON, LJAl. CIHENCES- 
TEttl.—A useful list of rose®, fruit trees ornamental 
trees and^ shrubs^ and herbaceous, plants* 
