The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1908-04-24
SCHOOL GARDENING In THE
GISaDEIS.
PART THREE.
BY Estella Crowder.

Perhaps one Oh The greatest prob
| lens oil southern Idaho farmers is
now 70 deal with the insects when
lllesL the orchards AMI gardens. The
most troublesome or these insects
are che orchard pests. Inc staple
truit OF southeastern Idaho is the ap-
pie, nearly every farm boasIng an
orchard or trees OF this variety. Ap-
piles are cultivated for both home
consumption and shipping purposes.
In time apple raising will be a Lead
| ing industry in th4s section OF the
country.
| A great number of the apples
reared are rendered unfit for either
shipping or home use by the pres
ence OF insects. Every farmer has to
discard bushels of fine large fruit
because of worms.
In some years the loss becomes
very great and every year it is re-
marked. In three states this loss
annually has been estimated at: llli-
nois, $2,375,000; Nebraska, $4,000
600; and New York, $3,000,000. The
| loss in other states is relative to the
| loss in these.
The cause of the mischief is the
Coddling Moth, the so-called
worms being the larvae OF that in
sect. This pest was brought to
America from Europe early in the set
tlement of the colonies andsis now
so widely distributed that it Is found
in the United States and Canada
wherever fruit is grown. This insect
is estimated as causing loss OF from
25 to 20 per cent in the apple crops
as well as in. those OF many other
fruits. In the years when the crop is
heavy the infected fruit drops off as
"windfalls," but at times when the
crop is light and apples therefore
valuable, the entire crop is often az
fec,ed and thus badly injured.
To be able to successfully extermi-
nate this insect it is necessary to
know something of its life history
AS commonly observed it is in Its lar
val stage and appears inside, the ap-
pie devouring that part near the core
The life history of the insect be,
gins late in May or early in June
when the moth emerges from its CO.
| coon as little gray miller. 1T Is
distinguished from the many Other
little gray millers that fly about IN
the spring, by bright copper-color
ed horseshoe scale on the from
wings. Soon after the moths emerge
they begin to look for suitable places
in which ito deposit their eggs. These
eggs are fiat scales, about one. MILL
inter in diameter and are laid on th'
Young apples about week after thu
petals have fallen. The eggs are us
ually deposited anywhere on the sur
face of the apple or on the leaves nea
it.
A moth averages depositing seven
ty or eighty eggs, laying them slngl,
and usually one 10 an apple. In tn
northern part OF the United tSate
the moth breeds one and a nal
Droods a year, the early emergini
moths giving rise to second brood
while the later emerging insects CIV
rise but to one. In the middle sec
ton, ,or great fruit belt, there ar
regularly two broods, while in tn
south there are three.
The eggs hatch in about wee
and the larva crawl to the calyx en-
OF the apples and eat their way int
the core. Here they attain their flu
growth in about three weeks, ea
their way through the side OF tn
apple and crawl down to the trunk
, of the tree or to the ground, wher
: they spin their cocoons. This occur
v usually in the first of July. The
i. complete the metamorphosis in tn
! middle of July, emerge as moths, an
3 deposit eggs. This last brood is con
: monty boxed with the apples or r.
: turn to the tree trunk for winter.
/ AS the majority of farmers do M
: know how to successfully extirpat
: this nuisance, or knowing, careless
J. leave it alone; here then is an oppo
: tunity for the child in his school ga
n dening to do something of real an
a immediate benefit for his section I
the country. He can, under tt
teachers guidance, collect the II
:, sects, study the transformation ar
; then set about seeking for an eff
cient remedy.
A most effective course can
given in the seventh grade, the pupi
Q of that age being able to reason clea
Q ly. The children can bring appl
l. from the market and home, discov
l. and rear the moths, thus making O.
/ the life history. But the work
) most benefit is done in the orchar
% The class is taken into the @
g chards while the apples are being ha
g vested and there thew ascertain Il
= Continued on page 49,