Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-04-01
AGRICULTURAL.
MATTER PREPARED SPECIALLY FOR
TIE RECORD UNION"
The Fruit Prospect and the Worms saw
ing Seed Wheat-Eow Corn
HAY be Improved.

The prospect for large yield of fruit of all
kinds was probably never better than at the
present time. The uniform cool weather
during the winter months held the blossoms
back, so that as far as we can learn no dam
aga has been doue by frost in any locality or
to any variety. The last severe storm occur
ring in the forepart of the present month
was too early to do any damage, as very
little fruit blossom hal then been formed.
No better or more favorable weather could
be desired than we have experienced since
the close of this storm, and nearly all classes
of fruit trees are now blooming, and will
doubtless set their fruit during the contin-
uance of the favorable weather. So far,
then, as Nature can do her duty towards the
production of good crop of fruit she is per.
forming that duty admirably and if we at
tend now to ours we will have an abundance
of fruit and of the best quality. What are
our duties it may be inquired. First to protect
the fruit from damage from the many insect
pests that threaten it and from the mildews
duQ UAiShec hioJ ySs oes"SA> AN' ~--~S->e
the first and most threatening of these 10 this
section of the State may be named the cod
ling moth. This insect confines its attacks
mostly to the apples, pears and ounces. Its
seclusion for the winter is now about passed
and the Larvae will soon assume the pupa or
chrysalis form. and by the 18th to the 20th
of April we may expect to find the perfect
e. Al 81 H. 0l-l sc
NAV, in some localities possibly at an earlier
date. If orchards have not already been
searched for the Larvae and the work of de-
struction performed as completely as possible,
there should be no time lost in accomplishing
this work. Il is said that an ounce of pre-
ventive is worth pound of cure, and the
maxim was never applied more appropriately
than to the matter of Kidding an orchard of
the codling moth. The moth winters under
the loose bark of trees, generally of the trees
the fruit of which it destroys, though 1t will
go into winter quarters wherever winter
overtakes it. Up to this time it is not
too late TO hunt up those winter quarters and
destroy them. If not already done, scraps the
loose bark from all the pear, apple and ounce
trees in the orchard, being careful to catch
such scrapings on cloth or canvas spread
about the tree body on the ground, andwhe SO
caught, let care be taken to burn or bury
them, so as to destroy all the Larvae contained
in them. When the bark has been scraped
off and destroyed in this manner, and the
moth with it, the next important step Is to
induce the tree to cover itself with clean,
smooth bark, with few hiding places for the
larvae in the future. This can be done most
effectually by washing the scrapsd bodies
with an alkaline wash made from common
soft soap, containing nine per cent of potash.
If this be not on hand. then obtain from the
drug store or soma dealer what ID known as
the codling moth wash, consisting OF whale
oil soap and sulphur, using one pound of
such mixture to gallon Of water. The
brush alta temperature Of 100 degrees. Be
careful to penetrate all crevices about the
roots and limbs Of the trees with the wash,
as many larvae will escape the scraping, and
if not destroyed by the wash, will mature to
the perfect insect, to multiply and increase
and destroy the approaching fruit crep.
When you have scraped your trees and ap-
piled the wash, and dug down around the
tree and its roots, and killed all the Larvae
and pur@ to be found, then the attention
should be- turned to the destruction Of the
first spring crop of worms, to prevent them
from coming to the moth state. And here
let US tell our rsaders that if larva or pupa
escape theic vigilant search, that that larve
or pupa will hatch out a perfect moth or
miller probably before the 1st or 10Th of
May; that this moth, If a female, after
population with the male, will lay from one
hundred and fifty to three hundred eggs and
cut of this number of eggs there will hatch
aud mature from one hundred to two hundred
moths, which may be termed the first spring
crop. These are the moths that will be fouad
in the early pears and apples that fall to the
ground during the forepart of summer. After
this brood of moths have thus fallen to
the ground, and are ready to assume the
pupa sate, they will instinctively seek
the body OF the fruit tree for a nest, to
go through the changes again to the perfect
insect. Hare, again, is another stage or con-
dition in which successful war may be waged
with this insect pest Tear up barley sacks,
or other soft cloth, into strips of the proper
length to go around the bodies of the trees,
and about six inches in width, and wrap
these strips around the tree bodies-one, say
about two, and another about four feet,
above the ground, holding them in their
places by a cord or Irvine. These bands
are intended as nests in which
or under which the Larvae ascending the body
will find convenient place to make its nest
or cocoon, in which it changes to the papa
form, and from which it again energies
perfect insect. just as soon as You notice
your young fruit falling from the tree you
will have an Indication that the time has
arrived when you may expect to find Larvae
under the bands Let each one of these bands
be united or rolled up, and examined about
every six days all summer, and all the Larvae
or pul re found under them destroyed. For
each larva destroyed at this time in a large
orchard of pears or apples, by scraping the
trees and washing them, it ia probable that
from one to FIVE hundred pounds of fruit may
be saved. aud for each larva or pupa
trapped under the bands described, and
killed, half that amount of fruit may be
saved. The amounts saved in each case may
be q great deal larger. In this estimate we
take into account the increase Of the worm
and the amount of fruit within its reach for
it to operate upon. We think it possible
that the increase from single moth may
cause the destruction of Elk hundred apples
or pears during the season, each generation OF
larva, destroying an average of two hundred.
When you have placed the bands around the
stems of the trees. keep up the examination
till late in the fall, say till November. To
illustrate the Importance of this late exam
inatiou, we will state that we to-day exam
ined some bands placed on some small pear
trees last year asout this time, and examined
and many a worm killed from them during
the summer and fall-the last examination
taking place in October-and under each we
found large number of larve and pupa, ard
a much larger number of pup@ cases from
which the moths had escaped after the last
examination of the bands last fall. This
fact proves that the present is good time
to destroy the Larvae AID pure, and tn t
the destruction Of them should be kept up till
cold weather comes in the fall. All the fruit
that falls to the ground before ripe should be
destroyed at once, for on each specimen it is
safe to asSume there will be larva of the
codliug moth in some stage, and by the de-
Al l.