The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-08-02
THE APPLE AND COOLING
MOTH.

T.C. Cook of Michigan contrib.
utes the following to the Indiana
Farmer:
There is no fruit in our country
If there is one in the whole world,
thai is comparable in value with the
apple. Intrinsically it holds high
rank, and is so easily grown and
keeps so we'll that even the poorest
may possess it for nearly every day
OF The year.
Among the many insect enemies
bhat work to injure or destroy this
benson of our people, none is so
much to be dreaded as the codling
moth. Take the years as they go,
and it is safe to say that one-fourth
of this valuable crop is annually
destroyed or rendered unstable by
this. the most noxious of our insect
pests.
NATURAL HISTORY.
The biology of this insect is briefly
as follows: The caterpillar, or larva,
usually, though incorrectly. styled
worm, passes the winter In its silken
COCOON under some bark scale, in
some crevice or birds nest of the
apple tree, or in some similar retreat
in the kitchen or cellar. Early in
spring it changes to a chrysalis, and
late in May, just as the small apples
appear. the small gray moth ap-
pears. These lay their two score of
eggs, singly, on the calyx of the
apples. Close observation will de-
tect the tiny white egg on the small
sepals at the blossom end of the
fruit. Late in June the Larvae from
these eggs have matured, and soon
leave the apple to hide and spin their
cocoons as before. If the apple falls
before the caterpillar leaves it, the
larva craWls up the tree trunk in
search of hiding place. In less
than two weeks the gray moth
comes forth to lay the eggs for a
second brood of larvae, which will
tunnel the fall and winter fruit as
their parents did the earlier varie-
ties. The moths of neither brood
come out all at once, so moths may
be found from early in May till the
middle of August. All Of the Larvae,
the so-called worms, that leave the
apple after August, will remain in
this condition till the next spring.
REMEDIES.
The old method, long recon-
mended as the best, that of fasten-
ing bands of cloth or paper about
the trunk Of the tree as a trap for
the Larvae, has two serious objec-
lions. First, these larvae have
already destroyed to the extent of
their capacity, and their destruction
only serves to prevent repetition
OF the mischief by the second brood.
This is locking the stable door after
the horse is stolen, that we may
keep the second horse. Again, the
bands do not destroy; they only
afford such a snug retreat that the
Larvae are ent.Ced to pass under
them, to spin their cocoons and
pupate. Thus they only serve as a
welcome hiding place for the in
sect from ten days to two weeks,
while it is in the chrysalis state.
Hence, to do any good these bands
must be unbound and the insects
killed every ten or twelve days,
from the middle of June till the last
of August, and again at the close
of the season; and to be satisfactory
this must be faithfully attended to
by every fruit grower in the whole
community. Just here lies the
trouble. This is the busiest season
of all the year, and many will not
attend to the killing, and so the
method fails.
A better way is to turn hogs or
sheep into the orchard, from early
in j une till fall. These will pick
up all the wind falls as soon as they
drop from the trees, and in eating
them will destroy the larvae. If
none of the Larvae left the fruit
till it dropped to the earth
this method would leave little to be
desired. If the fruit grower goes
around and, by use of g long pole
with a forked end, fells all Wormy
fruit, this will so thin the apples
that the remaining ones will be
much finer, and will give the swine
nearly the worms This method is
found to work far more satisfacto-
rily than the bad method.
Another way which [ have tried
with marked success the past two
years is to use Paris green or Lon
don purple. One pound of the arse
mite is added to 100 gallons of water.
This is placed in q close barrel,
which is drawn in a wagon
through the orchard. A fountain
pump, with hose passing through
the bunghole of the barrel, makes
the application easy and quick.
This should be applied to the trees
two weeks after the leaves fall, and
again four Rweeks later. [ think,
after elaborate experiments, that
there is no danger in this practice.
Chemical analysis shows no trace of
the poison on the fruit two months
after the poison is applied. In fact,
in three or four weeks it is removed
by action of the winds and rain, as
nv experiments have abundantly
shown. When first applied, the
blossom end of the fruit is up, so as
to best catch the poison; later they