24, a, pushing its castings out through the hole where it
entered, Fig. 24, b. Oftentimes these are in sight on the outside in a
dark colored mass, thus making wormy apples plainly seen at quite a
distance.
The caterpillar is about two-fifths of an inch in length, of a glossy,
pale yellowish white color, with a light brown head. The skin is
transparent and the internal organs give to it a reddish tinge.
When mature the caterpillars, Fig. 24, e, top of head and second
segment, h, emerge from the apples and seek some sheltered place, such
as crevices of bark, or corners of the boxes or barrels in which the
fruit is stored, where they spin a tough whitish cocoon, Fig. 24, i,
in which they remain unchanged all winter, and transform to pupae, Fig.
24, d, the next spring, the perfect moths emerging in time to lay
their eggs in the new crop of apples.
One good remedy is to gather all the fallen apples, and feed them to
hogs; another is to let swine and sheep run in the orchard, and eat
the infested fruit.
It has been recommended to place bands of cloth or hay around the
trunks of the trees for the caterpillars to spin their cocoons
beneath, and to remove them at the proper time, and put them in
scalding water to destroy the worms.
By far the most successful method as yet adopted is to shower the
apple trees with Paris green in water, one pound to one hundred and
fifty gallons of water, when the apples are about the size of peas,
and again in about a week.
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