Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-09-24
Peach Grower Tries an In.
teresting Experiment.

Swedesboro, N. 1.-THE candle flame
that singeS the moths wings has fur
1ished the idea upon which late Isaac
Hurff Weatherby, owner of one of the
largest farms and peach orchards in
southern New Jersey, has elaborated
in his fight against the Oriental meth,
newest and most destructive of the
pests that have attacked peaches in
the East.
Instead of using candles, however,
Mr.. Weatherby has been more modern.
He has had an electric lighting sys-
tenn constructed in his 60-acre peach
orchard. AT night the orchard is a
blaze of light. Around the incandes-
cent light bulbs fiutter myriads Of
moths and other insects. Their wings
are not. singed but those attracted
closest to the lights become dazzled
and fall into large, shallow pans, one
of which Is set a few inches below
each electric globe. These pans are
filled with kerosene, which kills all
moths and insects that touch it.
Electric lights are in common use
among poultry breeders to make the
hens get up earlier so that they will
scratch more and lay better, but the
Weatherby farm boasts of the first
electrically lighted orchard in the
country. The orchard is set upon a
hill, and from q distance it looks like
a pleasure park. Thousands of motor
lists have had their curiosity aroused
by the unusual sight.
Peach Grower for Thirty Years.
81 realized last year that / would
either have to do something to stop
the moths or they would finish me-"
said Mr.. Weatherby, who has been
growing peaches for more than thirty
years and who declares that the
Oriental moth has caused more havoc
in his orchards than any other pest,
with the possible exception of the
borer. The fruit growers now have
the bOrer under control, but they have
found no effective means of combat-
Ing the Oriental moth with the usual
poisonous sprays.
"This electric light system was put
In early in the summer" continued Mr..
Weatherby. "It has cost me a lot of
money and I've learned a lot about
moths. l have learned that there isn't
much use of wasting electric current
on moonlight nights. There are few
moths in the traps after a full moon.
Even on the dark nights / have
found that the moths and other in
at others. When the lights were fiji st
put in 1 made regular inspection trips
to the orchards at all hours of the
night. Eleven o'clock seems to be the
witching hour for the moths. Early
in the evening they are not so thick. l
have visited the traps at two o'clock
in the morning and haven't seen a
single insect fluttering around the
lights. At eleven o'clock 1 have found
swarms of them"
Mr.. Weatherby pointed out the ORR
entail moth. It is a small, gray moth,
scarcely more than twice as big as a
fly. The moth lays its eggs at the tips
Of the young tree shoots. The worm
that matches out bores into the pith Of
the shoot for an inch or two. After
1t strikes the tougher bark he crawls
to another twig or bores into the
green fruit.
Balks at Poison.
This pest seems to have an instinc-
tive repulsion against poison sprays
and powders, as horticultural experts
have discovered that it splits out the
first bite it takes of a twig or skin
of peach and eats only beneath the
surface where the poisons that kill
most of the other insects do not pene-
trate.
When Mr.. Weatherby first discov-
cred the extent of their damage last
summer he tried out a system of oil