The apple-worm, the larva of the codling moth (_Carpocapsa pomonella_
Linnaeus), destroys great quantities of pears year in and year out in
New York, causing greater monetary loss to pear-growers than any other
insect pest. The worm and its work scarcely need description--all
know "wormy" apples and pears and the agent of the mischief. A
pinkish-white, fleshy worm eats a cavity within the pear, usually
through and around the core, and then eats its way out to the surface,
after which it finds suitable shelter in a crevice of the bark and
spins its cocoon. About the time apples blossom the larvae transform
into small brown pupae, from which small moths emerge in two or three
weeks. The moths are coppery-brown, small, with a wing expanse of about
three-quarters inch, and very inconspicuous as they rest during the
day on the bark of the pear-tree which they closely resemble; they fly
only at dusk. The moth lays its eggs on leaves or the fruit itself and
the young larvae immediately begin work on the nearest pear. Control
consists in spraying with arsenate of lead. Two and sometimes three
sprayings are necessary. The most important spraying is made just after
the blossoms fall, while the calyx-cup is still open, so that the
poison will lodge in the blossom-end of the upturned pear. Codling moth
was once a most serious pest of the pear, but is now easily kept under
control by seasonal applications of arsenate of lead.
The pear-slug (_Caliroa cerasi_ Linnaeus), a generation ago, before
spraying was common, did much damage to the pear in New York, but is
now a negligible pest except in the orchards of the indifferent or
slothful since it is easily controlled by spraying. The slugs are
small, dark green shiny creatures which eat the surface of the leaves
of pear, cherry, and plum. They devour the upper surface of the leaf
leaving the veins and the tissues of the lower surface, which turn
brown so that the infested tree has the aspect of having been scorched
by fire. The slugs molt and finally lose their shiny coat and dirty
green color, the full-grown larvae becoming clear yellow. The adult is
one of the numerous saw-flys. Eggs are laid within the tissues of the
leaves. There are two or three generations in a season. The slugs are
most common in the hottest part of the summer or late in the summer.
This pest is easily kept in check by applications of arsenate of lead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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