Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-04-25
Whole Number 1929.

and thus entirely destroy, in a single
hour, the work of whole year. Here,
too, hand picking seems to be the only
practicable remedy. He is most success
full in destroying them by going
through the vineyard early in the
beneath the punches, giving the bugs a
gentle tap, when they roll up their legs
and tumble into the water. Of course
it is constant vigilance that wins in
this as in most other endeaYors in life.
The curculio, the doctor believes, is q
blessing, as his work is chiefly per-
formed while the fruit is Young and
hanging too thiGkly on the trees. The
insect helps the farmer to thin his fruit,
but if allowed to become too numerous
they may also become our enemies.
The fOrest-tree caterpiller, or fall
web worm, which attacks the apple,
pear, and cherry trees, must be de-
stroyed by searching early and often
till their season is past. If taken as
soon as hatched, only a few leaves will
be injured, but if left alone, whole
limbs with their fruit will be rendered
worthless, for their fruit cannot grow
and ripen without leaves. The codling
moth, which causes so much WOrmY
fruit during harvest and through the
winter, is an enemy every time, as
most of his work of thinning fruit is
done too late to help the remaining
portion of the crop. This year this
insect has attracted but little attention,
because there was so great an abund-
ance of fruit that there we're not enough
worms to 90 round. The apple crop
being extremely light last year, very
few of these insects were produced.
Next year, with small crop of apples,
we shall find more worms than fruit, as
it has been a good year this season for
raising the moths. The codling worm
moth is, though small, very beautiful
insect. They may be found in spring
on the inside of cellar windows, where
apples have been stored. Their pupa
cases may also be found in the creVices
of boxes or barrels that have
contained apples, and they may
be found abundantly, too, under
the rough bark of the trees near
where they were reared. Scraping
trees at the right season will destroy
great many. The best method he had
discovered for trapping this insect is
to wrap the trunk Of the trees with
loosely-fOlded paper, which invites
them to form their eocoons therein,
and whence they may be removed
weekly. In his own orchard he had
fftY-seYen trees which were treated in
this way the past summer, the ehrysa-
ides being destroyed every Monday
morning. The first week, on the 22d
of July, he found less than a hundred,
but later he sometimes found as many
as two or three hundred. During the
season he trapped, in all, 2,152, W hieh
were counted, and probably as many
more not counted, each Of which might
lay thirty eggs next year, thus check
ing much mischief for the coming sea-
son. He had 175 barrels of good,
sound fruit the past summer and aus
tumn, all free from insects, and insects
enough have been destroyed to save
12O barrels of apples from being at
tackled next year. That being thecase,
it would seem that such work pays.
With all the help of the curiculiO, he
still finds it Unnecessary to thin his fruit
artiGcially, and he showed a little in
strument shaped like the fork in the
handle of tack hammer, which, be-
ing inserted in the end of long pole,
is used for twisting of the surplus ap-
pies and pears. His rule for thinning
is to take off every specimen that is
wormy or in eny way imperfect, then
to reduce all clusters to single speci-
men, and, finally, to cut out from one
half to three-fOurths of what remains,
and this is the hardest thing to do of
all. Pears should not be nearer than
six inches apart on the tree, if one
would obtain the finest and largest
quality of fruit. Young trees, especial
", should have their fruit thinned very
close, particularly where they are not
making much wood. Allowing two or
more specimens of apples or pears to
touch each other, invites the codling
moth to deposit its eggs where the fruit
touches, as it is then better protected
from accident.
There were many other insects of
which he might say something, but as
he had designed to discuss only such as
hehad become personally familiar with,
he would not enlarge. In answer to q
question, the speaker said that the
quince-tree borer was similar in its
habits to the apple-tree borer, but was
another species. They should be de-
stroyed in the same way as given for
destroying the borer of the apple tree.