Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-03-28
Insects Destructive to the Apple.

The following paper on the insects
destructive to the apple was read by
George Graham, Esq, before the
horticultural Society, of Cincinnati
Ohio, last week 1t is of special in
terest at this season of the year
when tie insect tribe is swarming
with renewed life, and may be check
ed before the work of destruction is
FULLY entered upon:
"Insects of several species attack
the apple tree and the fruit. The
borer is destructive insect to the
body of the tree. The different
species of caterpillars, the bark louise,
the apple moth and other insects are
sll injurious to the apple orchard
The catterpillars may be destroyed
by burning or rubbing off the nests
when they first appear on the trees
The curculio, it is said, attacks the
fruit, and a great many tender skin
ned apples are punctured by that in
sect and fall before ripening. Many
methods have been adopted for ban
Ishing the curculio from the plu n !,
the peach and the apple orchards,
which, in most cases, have been un-
successful. Perhaps the most certain
mode would be TO destroy the fallen
fruit before the maggot leaves it to
hurrow in the ground and thus de-
stroy the brood which would again
appear as the beetle or curcuslio of a
new product ifsuffered to go into the
earth, as it is only produced by the
change in the ground at the proper
time from the Larvae state to the bug
or beetle which attacks the fruit on
the tree.
"AmoDg the insects which have
been brought to America with other
productions Of Europe, may be men.
toned the apple worm, which has
been naturalized wherever the apple
tree has been introduced. This mis-
chievous createre has sometimes been
mistaken for the plum weevil AL
though the plum weevil prefers stone
fruit, it is sometimes found in apples
also. On the other hand, the apple
worm has in this region never been
found in plums. 1t is not grub,
but true caterpillar, belonging to
the IOrtriT tribe, and in due time is
changed to moth-the Cooling moth
or fruit moth Of The apple. 1t is sell
dom seen in the moth state. and the
apple grower knows no more than
the man in the moon to what cause
he is indebted for baskets full of
worm-eaten windfalIs in the stillest
weather. During the month Of June
and the month of July, these fruit
moths fly about apple trees every
evening, and lay their eggs on the
young fruit, They do not puncture
the apples, but drop their eggs, one
by one, in the eve or hollow, at the
blossom end Of the fruit, where the
skin is most tender.
1.-The eggs begin to hatch in a few
days after they are laid, and the lit
tie apple worms or catterpillars pro-
duced from them Immediately bur-
row into the apples, making their
way gradually from the eye towards
the core. Commonly only one worm
will be found in the same apple, and
1t is so small at first that its presence
can only be detected by the brownish
powder it throws out in eating it's
way through the eye. To get rid of
the refuse fragments of its food, it
ghaws a round hole through the side
of the apple and thrusts them out at
the opening Through this hole also
the insect makes its escape after the
apple falls to the ground; and the
falling of the fruit is well known to
be FASTENED by the injury it has re-
ceived. which generally causes it to
ripen before its time
"Soon after the half-grown fruit
has dropped, and sometimes while
they are still hanging, the worms
leave the apples and creep into shell
tered places. or chinks in the bark of
the trees, where each one spins for
itself cocoon or silken case as thin,
delicate and white as tissue paper.
Most Of the insects remain in bheir
cocoons through the winter and are
not changed to moths until the fol-
lowing summer.
"As the apple worms instinctively
leave the fruit soon after its fall from
the trees, it will be proper to gather
up all wind-fallen apples daily, and
make such use of them as will be
sure to kill the insects before they
have time to escape.
"By carefully scraping off the
rugged bark OF the trees in the spring,
many chrysalics will be destroyed.
The worms often found in summer
pears appear to be the same as those
that effect apples, and are to be kept
in check by the same means.
"Another insect injurious to apple
trees is the AphiS ldntgerde. These
insects, or apple tree lous4. are en-
veloped in cotton like substance
furnished by the body of the insect.
They are deposited in the crotches
of the branches, and in the chinks of
the bark, al or near the surface of
the ground. The young are pro-
duced in summer. are buried in the
MOSES of the down, and derive their
nourishment from the sap of the
bark. These insects, though desti-
tute of wings, are conveyed from
tree to tree by means of their long
down, which is so light, as to be
easily waited by the winds, and thus
the evil gradually spreads through
out an extensive orchard.
"ln England the apple trees are
greatly injured, and in 1926 the in
sect abounded TO such an extent that
The apple tree appeared as if white
washed, and so many trees destroyed
that it was feared that the making
of cider would have to be abandoned.
This IN England was called the Amer
lean blight. 1t is now ascertained
that the American blight, so miscall-
cd, is not indigenous TO this country,