Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-06-26
COOLING MOTH OR APPLE WORM


ence NJ. Weed discussed this insect as
follows:
Professor 5. \. Forbes, the State Ento-
mologist, of Illinois, estimates that for
the State alone there may fairly be at
tributed to the depredations of this in
sect an annual loss of four and three
quarters millions of dollars (S4,750,0 1000;
and probably the loss in Ohio is equally
great, if not greater. Fortunately, how
ever, it has been conclusively proven
that large proportion of this loss may
he saved by the simple process of spray
ing the trees early in the season with a
mixture of London purple or Paris green
and water, in manner presently to be
described.
The life-h history of the codling moth
is too we'll known to need more than the
briefest recapitulatiOn. The small choc-
olate moth deposits its eggs in the spring
in the blossom end of the young apple,
before the latter has turned down on its
stem. From this egg there matches a
small worm or caterpillar, which nibbles
at the skin of the fruit and eats its way
toward the core. Here it continues
feeding as the apple develops, increasing
in size until at the end of three or four
weeks it is about three-fourths of an
inch long. 1t has now finished its cat
erpil ar growth, and leaving the apple,
finds some crevice in the bark where it
spins a rather slight silken cocoon in
which it changes TO pupa. 1t remains
in this condition for about fortnight,
when it emerges as moth like the one
by which the original egg was laid. Thus
the life circle is completed. There are
at least two broods in season.
THE REMEDY.
There is now known but one generally
successful practical means of preventing
the injuries of the cOdling moth, and
that is the method of spraying with the
arseniates mentioned above. That this
is a successful preventive the sister
sciences of entomology and horticulture
both attest; and there is now no good
reason why the fruit growers of Ohio
should permit the destruction of a large
proportion of their fruit by this little
pet.
r
The essential point in this method of
treatment is to have small quantity of
poison lodge in the depression of the
blossom end of the apple before it turns
down on its stem, the supposition being
that when the newly Matched caterpillar
gnaws the skin preparatory to entering
mil aot tonicnn fn
be killed. This end is best accomplish
ed by applying the poison in water
spray by means of force pump and
spray nozzle, throwing the liquid above
the trees so that it will settle in fine |
mist. This should be done after the |
blossoms have fallen, when the apples |
are about as large as peas. l believe |
that generally speaking one application
will answer the purpose very well, unless
there is washing rain soon afterwards, |
in which case the application should be
repeated.
Iprefer London purple to Paris green,
as it is cheaper, more easily seen and in |
finer powder, and hence is more readily |
kept in suspension. A safe and effec
tive proportion is three -fourths of a |
pound to eighty or one hundred gallons |
of water. Paris green may safely be |
used in the proportion of one pound to |
one hundred gallons of water. The
poison should be formed into a paste
with little water, before stirring into
the larger receptacle.
Of course it must be remembered that |
these substances are deadly poisons, and
LII chanId ha 70 oIynJ1 th Of |
no accidents occur through their uSe.-
Protect the hands of the operator with
lose-fitting gloves, and apply the spray
so that it will not be breathed by men
or horse. Keep stock out of the orchard
for. some time after the application is
made, and do not spill the poison in
quantity on the ground where it will be
accessible to animals of any kind. AL
ways keep the poison itself in tight YES
sells, plainly labeled poison, and out of
the reach of children.
No danger need be feared from eating
mature apples that were poisoned when
the size of peas, for chemical analysis
has shown that the extremely small
amount of poison that lodges on the
fruit is dissipated long before it natures.
SLOWNESS OF CHANGES.
National StOckman.
Close observers need not be told that
much more time is required for effect
ing changes in commercial conditions
the country over than was the case some
years ago. Changes which at one time
transpired within two or three seasons
now require four or five years, and
sometimes longer period. This is ex-
plainable by the growth of the country
and increase of production. While in
agriculture at one time, for instance, the
farm area was somewhat limited, and
the districts easily accessible to the mar
kets were comparatively few, crop
shortage in one or two sections or To-
cal surplus would suffice to produce
widely varying conditions within few
months. Fat stock might be very high in
one season, and year or two later reach
the other extreme. Now, however, this
is no longer the case. The area within
easy reach of the leading markets is sew
eral times as great as a generation
ago, and the outcome of either shortage
or surplus cannot be measured without
taking into consideration districts so
wide and so widely apart as to make cal
culations extremely difficult. This will
explain in measure how it comes about
that cattle have been so slow in recover
ing from the great depression of the last
few years. After cattle became scarce
in one locality after another they were
still quite plentiful in other sections,
and it has only been within compare
lively recent period that the prospect of
general shortage has been clearly de-
fined.
This iuoraaSiuU elOwlpcl of chanUn