THE ORCHARD AND GARDEN PESTS ACT, 1896.

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 174, 26 January 1897, Page 2

THE ORCHARD AND GARDEN PESTS ACT, 1896.

THE CODLIN MOTH. TO THE EDITOR. . Sib,— Several people here asked me whether it is possible to stamp out the above pest, which is ruining th« orchards in this district. Aa it is a matter of public importance perhaps yon will allow me a little space in your journal to discuss this subject. In the first place I am of opinion that the moth can be stamped out ; bnt not by the methods hitherto adopted, which have been spraying fruit trees with one of the|numerous mixtures recommended. The spraying has in many oases killed the moths then on the wing when the mixture was sprayed on the trees, and at the same time has also killed the bloom, but this spraying has not killed all the moths, nor those in neighbouring orchards, consequently the raotn continues to increase and threatens the rain of apple growers. The moth lays an egg in the eyes of the apple, this turns into a grab, which tunnels its way through the apple and then eats the pips ; the apple and grab drop to the ground, the latter crawls oat and makes its way to the trunk of the tree, where it can be dealt with easily, by painting the bole and larger branches with a non-injurious (so far as the tree is concerned) yet effectual insecticide, which will soon rid the trees of the codlin moth grabs, and by destroying all grubs -it is needless to say, the moths will be a thing of the past. Of course every owner of codlin moth infested trees in the district raust dress his trees and destroy all grabs, or the moth from an infected orchaird will fly to a clean one and make sad havoc of it. There must be combined action on the part of all fruit tree growers in a district to stamp out the pest, consequently the Government are on the right track when they under the above mentioned Act, compel all fruit tree growers to dress their trees at least once a year. I am, Ac., Geobob Wilks, Feilding, January 26tb, 1897.