The Greeley tribune., 1912-02-29
WINTER AND SPRING WORK
AGAINST THE COOLING MOTH

WINlFh AMI St-NINN WOth
AGAINST THE COOLING MOTH
The man who makes the greatest
success of orcharding at the present
time is the man who is giving the
most attention to the control of in
sect pests in his orchard. While this
may not be absolutely true in all
cases It is true in the majority OF
them. at least.
There is no other orchard pest in
Colorado that has been responsible
for 30 much damage as the codling
moth. While II is true that spray
ing methods have been entirely sue
cessful in controlling 1t in great
many cases. In other cases such
methods have been found made
luate to cope with the tremendous
numbers OF this pest that have oc-
Cured during certain seasons. Peo-
pie have been depending largely
upon spraying methods for the last
ew years and, in many cases. they
have given up entirely all other me-
thods that can be successfully used
toward reducing the numbers of
this Injurious insect
The codling moth always spends
the winter In tho Ixyvel, or worm
stage, and by destroying them in
their hiding places during the win
ter ssason. It may be possible to re-
duce the numbers to such an extent
so frequently done. There are
number of different places where
these larvae may be found at this
fsH "a hu a
many OF them winter over under
meath scales OF rough bark on the
trunks and larger limbs of both ap-
Pile and pear trees: others may be
found about the CROWNS. close to
the surface Of the ground Any
rubbish. smudge pots. boxes. etc,
in the, orchard may serve as hiber-
mating places for these larvae. Very
often a crop OF apples will be pack
ed in the open in the orchard dur
ing the packing season. In which
case trees close to where packing
tables stand are very apt to harbor
great many larvae. When pack
ing has bssa done cut in the orch
ard, It 10 always we'll during the
winter season to examine all trees
ad djacsnt 70 such places and destroy
the larvae which may be found
either under loose bark or litter on
tho ground near the tress.
There are a number Of tools that
may be used in removing the loose
bark from tho trunks or larger
branches. among which might be
mentioned . heavy knife. trowel,
shovel. hoe. or resp. Any instru-
ment that can be used for removing
this rough bark to advantage VIII
serve the purpose. Not only Is II
necessary to remove the bark, but 1t
is necessary. also. to kill the larvae
when found. II this fs not done.
many of those that are scraped
from the trunks Of tho trees Will
find hiding places where they Will
live until spring and develop into
moths. In the older orchards par
ticularly. trees often have knot
holes. or cracks in the crotches
which will extend for some distance
into the trunks. These knot holes
or cracks arc always favorite places
for the hibernation of the codllng
mothlarvae. Often a great amount
OF good can be accomplished by NH
ing such places with cement or
other material that will prevent
the worms from getting within:
Such places often tend to hold
the worms back in their develop
ment in the spring Of the year. TINS
is a disadvantage in that 1t tends to
string out the brood. thus making
II much harder to control by means
OF the flrst spray. II all the worms
would develop into moths at APP
proximately the same time In tne
beginning of the season. 1t would
not then be hard to control them
absolutely by means of tho hrs'
spray, but when many OF them pc
cause of alternating in cool places
within the trunk OF the tree. are
held back until two or three weeks
later than the first OF the brood de-
velop, It 10 impossible to meet with
the best results from this one
spray.
In some parts OF the state COD
ling moth has never become abund-
ant enough 10 that other methods
besides spraying have been abso-
lutely necessary. In other places
because OF the extensive orchardiz.
ing, or because Of other things tna'
may enter into the problem. this IN.
sect has become SO abundant tha'