THE CODLIN MOTH.

Otago Witness, Issue 1916, 30 October 1890, Page 5

THE CODLIN MOTH.

Those happy applegrowers who live in distriots of New Zealand as yet free from this post have no idea of the extent of mischief it is capable of doing. Thero are hundreds of orchards which lose quite 75 per cent, of their fruit every year from the moth, and several where the loss reaches even 95 per cent., and yet such is tho apathy of oiit orohnrdists that there are ntimberless cases in which nothing whatever' is dofle to e'heok tbe increase of this terrible pest. All who are so afflicted agree that the Government should do eottietbiag, but only let a Oodlin Moth Act be as much &s whispered at and all the app^egrowers whom it would affect are up in arms in a moment. The reason of this is that they dread, and not without good foaeosj the application of what an Am rican journal has oalied "political entomology;" that is, the superintendence Of on inspector whose claims to entomological knowledge are based upon his political friend's influence. The " inspector," upright and stiff, buttoned up to the ohm, with his belltopper set a little on one side, hit) sharp eye and ready pocket book prepared at a moment's notice to take down names for numerous fines and costs and peremptory orders to do this, that, and the other thing without the smallest regard to right or wrong, or tho possibility of appeal, is what the orchardiat dreads even more than the aodlin moth ; for the last thero are remedies, for the first none, and he "abideth for ever." It would bo interesting to know the extent of mischief this insect does, and if the question could be answered it would surprise a good many of titlr fruitgrowers. The orchard belonging to the plaoa where this very paper is being written ia a sad example of what tha moth and other pests, both insect and fungoid, can do if neglected. Ton years ago this orchard brought in fully £500 a year of net profit, last year the revenue was £17 gross. Then, amongst other things, there were long rows of vinos growing vigorously and bearing heavily in the open air j what their produce brought tbe writer haa no means of tolling, beyond that one year a neighbour gave £20 for tho bunches of inferior grapes (not fit to sell for deßsert) to make wino of. But the chief product was the apple, of which there were enormous quantities until the CodJin moth was introduced, then they began to dwindle down, until at the present time there is not 5 per cent, of sound fruit in the whole orchard. The vines have long Binoe disappeared, from a fungus attaok that might have been cured by the use of the spray pump. Nearly all the plum and pear trees and most of tho apple trees are act covered with moss and lichens that they are either dead or fast dying, and on what fruit is still growing the codlin moth is so thick that it is difficult to fill a single caßewith sound apples or pears. The whole evil seema to have arisen from letting a valuable orchard on lease without olauses for its preservation. Be this as it may, what is interesting and instructive in the matter is the result of allowing insect and fungoid pests to increase without cheok, and it is an example of what would have been the benefit to the owner, and consequently to the community at large, had there been some judiciously considered Orchard Aot in foroe and the orchard under proper inspeotion.

Apple trees, if properly taken care of, will last for a very long time. There are old trees at Home so long planted that the record is lost. Fear trees and vines will last many hundreds of years. Those in this orohard we are* writing of are not dying of old age, but of neglect, and there was nothing to have hindered them going on, giving, the £500 a year for generations to come. Let us thereforo tcxke the £500 a year at, say, 5 per cent., and we have a loss of no less than £10,000 of property on this umall orchard of eight acres, alone ! What must the lobs be in the whole colony ? Yet orohnrdists grudge the small special tax of Id a year ger tree. The mere Balary of a few orchard inspectors would be as nothing to the money saved, provided they were men of the right stamp and understood their business; provided their object waß to get rid of the orohard pasts, and not to show off their authority and zeal by inflicting needless punishment and giving annoyance, where they ought to aot as friends and advisers. But as the duties of an orchard inspector are somewhat complicated, and embrace a thorough knowledge of economic entomology, beyond what it would ba likely to find in an ordinary inspector, a great deal of the objection to an aot of this kind would be overcome by appointing some method of appeal. It would be impossible to listen to an appeal from every aggrieved orchardist, but for their own protection they oould form fruitgrowers' associations, as many have already done, and appeal through those bodies, when the members judged there were sufficient grounds. This ought to remove the present aversion to having orchard pest acts, and tbe neoeaaity for them is so well understood that even the very strong [example given above is hardly wanted.