The Delta independent., 1907-07-26
EXPERIMENTS MADE WITH ORCHARD PESTS
Various Tests and the Results Obtained as Made by
Prof. Leslie F. PAUL.

the comparative freedom of
Colorado orchards from the ma
jorlty of such pests is most
gratifying. With the New Eng.
land states spending millions to
fight the dreaded Gypsy Moth
whose depredations spare no
living green thing; with almost
the entire country fighting the
Chinese Scale. (erroneously
called San Jose Scale"3 and
with scores OF other more or less
serious orchard enemies infest-
ing nearly the whole country,
Colorado has much TO be grate-
full for in her comparatively
few and unimportant orchard
pests.
A second source of self con
graduation may be found in the
fact that by our rigid inspection
laws we have persisleutly main
tanned the "Ex ;lusion Act
against many Of these perils.
The fruit growers of the Yves
tern Slope as q whole, deserve
unstinted praise for the pro.
gressive spirit which they have
shown in supporting the inspec-
lion laws. frequently at a con-
siderable personal loss; and
also for their open-mindness,
whereby they have welcomed
any method by which they might
successfully complete with iu-
sect marauders.
The growers now feel that
they have met and practically y
defeated and subjugated the
Codling Moth. 1t has taken sev.
eral years of combined and un
remiLted effort to accomplish
this. 1t is a little unfortunate
that this year there are some
apple growers who have been
inclined to relax their vigilance
with regard to this pest because
of the small number of apples
left by the freeze. AS matter
of fact there are but few trees
that are absolutely bare of
apples. The moths were not
diminished by the freeze. and
they must seek out practically
every apple in order TO complete
their life history. The result is
that on unsprayed trees two or
three worms are frequently
found in one apple. and almost
every apple is wormy. The need
of thorough spraying vas even
greater this year than ordina.
rily.
The two pests which are Civ.
ing the greatest concern to our
apple growers at the present
time are undoubtedly the Woolly
Aphis and the Green Apple
Aph.s. The former is by far
the more serious of the two. Its
work on the smaller limbs, max
ing them gnarled and crooked
and greatly weakening them
against the production of fruit
buds, to say nothing of fruit. is
we'll known, and to this must be
added its destructive work upon
the roots in winter. The waxy
secretion. or wool" is practi.
cally impervious to most sprays.
Unlike the Green Aphis. they
seem to prefer the frame. work
of the tree, including the small
est shoots. to leaves and fruit.
on which they are seldom if ever
found. In the fall they acquire
wings. and thus distribute them
selves. In mild winters some
live over in the tree-tops. but
most of them pass the winter on
the roots.
Undoubtedly the best time to
atiact this pest is in winter and
early. spring. The following
method has proven quite success
full. In February or March. as
soon as the frost is out OF the
ground, with a small iron bar
bore four holes in the ground.
one on each side of the tree.
Each should be about two feet
distance from the crown and
about one and one half feet deep.
If. in making the hole. q root OF
any considerable size is encount-
erad. make another to one side.
For trees eight years and older,
pour one ounce of Carbon Bisul-
phide in each hole; for younger
trees proportionally less. The
fumes. which are very poisonous.
penetrate the soil in every d.
rection and kill q great many
aphis; probably. however, some
escape. From the first part OF
April to the middle OF May these
n rn norns,,rp ont ~ thu Dr1rnA