ENTOMOLOGICAL. ANTICIPATED CODLIN MOTH LEGISLATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2004, 21 July 1892, Page 5

ENTOMOLOGICAL. ANTICIPATED CODLIN MOTH LEGISLATION.

There seems to be a very genoral feeling in certain circles that some measures should be taken to suppress the codlin moth pest. In view of this there have not been wanting plenty of peoplo to suggest measures to their representatives, not only making a general suggestion, but specifying the precise terms of, each clause. Some of these would-be lawmakers have certainly proved themselves very unfit to give advice in such matters, and amongst the number notably the Hastings Farmers' Association, who have sent the draft of a bill to Captain Russell (their M.H.R.) which, however, that gentleman will hardly like to bring before the House. One of the clauses that every occupier of an infected orchard shall be required to "clean" his trees upon receiving seven days' notice to do so, and failing to do so shall be fined L 5, the notices to be continued and the fines doubled on each subsequent occasion. This, of courpe, amounts to requiring people to do that Which is, in most cases, quite impossible. For one thing there are Seasons of the year in which no steps can be taken against the moth for many months together, and the richest part of the absurdity crops up in another clause, in which it is provided that the remedies to be used are those ordered by the codlin 'moth inspector, so that, in point of aotual fact,* if the codlin moth inspector's remedies fail the fine is to be inflicted and the unfortunate orchardist has to continue to use these same remedies or to go on experimenting to please the inspector, and submit to continually doubling fines ©very time these experiments fail to bring about an impossibility. To make the thing complete another would-be lawmaker proposes that the inspector should receive all these fines instead of a salary, so that the more unsuccessful his remedies prove the better for him, as long as the victim has any money left to pay the fines with — and that certainly would not be very long. Indeed, as if it was intended to show the wisdom and justice of the Hastings scheme the compulsory use of the "Thissel" trap is specified as one of the remedies to be enforced by the inspector ; when, as every economising entomologist knows, it has long been given up as utterly useless; so that the unfortunate victim would have to send to America and procure a " Thissel " trap, have it in use, and kill all the codliu moths with it in seven days, and the worst of it is that the valuable article would have to be specially constructed for New Zealand, and when set up would, if persevered in, soon ruin the user in fines. All this seems very absurd, but it is by no means the only, nor indeed the worst, sample of what we may expect to become law if our representatives do not look out for and oppose such bills. It is needless to say that they are all brought up by orchardists whose apples are as yet clear of the moth, and who would willingly go to any lengths with a hope (a vain one) of keeping the pest at bay, and it may be added of many, of keeping the market to themselves. Although every consumer of the apple is interested in this matter, ;there are three distinct classes who are directly so. (1) The owners of clean orchards who clamour for protection at any cost, however ruinous to other people. (2) The owners of infected orchards who would gladly see some steps taken bo compel every one with infected trees to take reasonable means to cure them, because it is necessary that they should act in concert ; and (3) those professional and business men who merely grow a little fruit for their own use, and dread the annoyance and interference of an inspector, and being compelled to undertako work which they do not like and do not understand. These last say (very truly) that it would pay them belter to purchase what few cases of apples they require. Now it would be quite possible to make a law which would answer all purposes that can reasonably be expected, without annoying one class and ruining another for a very doubtful and very temporary advantage to a third. Owners of infected orchards cannot reasonably be punished for not performing miracles and extirpating a pest which has never been extirpated in any other country ; but they could be compelled to use all diligence and every known means to keep it down to the lowest possible minimum. People with infected trees could be given the choice of working the remedies themselves or paying a small fixed charge to some competent person to be named (or provided) by the inspector, as is done in tho United States.

Then, ag to checking the spread of the pest, it is simply impossible to do so completely, as importers of all kinds of goods know. They come here in every description of goods — groceries, hardware, cases of all kinds ; they crawl over the decks of ships, and enter and are brought ashore in passengers' luggage. It is simply ridiculous to support a whole army of Government officers to attempt to prevent the landing, or the spread of the pest. Even if each maggot carried sudden death with it, the thing could not be done, and it certainly is not to be done by severely fining every unfortunate orchardist amongst whose cases of apples a few maggots are found, which may, moreover, very well have entered on the railway truck, steamboat, or

other carriage from other cases. But something reasonable and easier might be done. For instance, it is well known that several orchardists purposely pick out badly infected apples, and send them knowingly as such, to the market, expecting to receive the small price such apples fetch. This could easily be stopped by simply confiscating and destroying the fruib and cases, and it would act as an effectual check, without inflicting fines as well, to the injury of those who are not to blame, and who are already suffering loss enough. Fighting the moth is an expensive process, but it does not seem to occur to those whose fruit is clean thab crushing a sufferer with severe and heavy fines' for the bare fault of having an enemy that has been brought here and left unchecked by no fault of his own, is hardly the way to assist him to get rid of ifc. It is also a very significant fact, that the advocates of "drastic" measures (for their own protection) are as a rule very unwilling to bear any part of the expenses of tho 'act, but prefer to leave that to those for whose destruction the act is framed. It is a decided case |of " Canny ghost, tak' Jock and leave me." And the best of it is that these good people do not seem to understand that it will inevitably be their own turn some day to fall a prey to the "ghost" unless, indeed, New Zealand experience is destined to differ from that of every other country where the post has been introduced.

The "Thlsscl" Trap.

So very many questions have been asked about this invention that it may bo interesting to know that it is one of those proposed cures which not unfrequently arise from the want of a thorough knowledge of the insect. The socalled "practical man" is not fitted to deal with the work of an entomologist, and there is no greater or more mischievous mistake than that of employing a mere practical fruit-grower to manage what belopgs to science. The 11 Thissel-trap, roughly- described, is a piece of zinc ,Or r tln mndo in .the shape of two sides of an equilateral triangle, to bo fitted round a tree. It is suppose! i 'a.i i the grubs will not be able to squeeze up l _ ;i the bark and the tin j and there is a groove filled with oil at the angle, wliteh id to stop them from passing upwards over the contrivance. Then, on the side below tho oil, there are round holes just large enough to admit the larvro, and plenty of comforts inside to induce them to remain and transform. It is calculated that when the moth is hatched, being shorter and ..broader than the grub, it will be unable to escape through the hole that has admitted thelarva, bub no one who has had much to do with the astute little insect would expect it to place itself in such a position, there are thousands of recorded instances in which codlin moth larva;, confined in boxes either of paper or wood have eaten their way out, and transformed at no great distance from their former place of confinement, and even instances where larvre confined in a bottle have eaten through the cork. It is not the codlin moth alone that acts in this way. Every entomologist knows that it is the invariable habit of all those insects which have mandibles in the larval stage and trunks in the perfect (or imago) state, when they are about to enter the pupa form, to first make an easy passage by which they can leave their place of retreat, when they no longer possess the powerful and sharp mandibles. It requires no stretch of what is called " iustinct " to suggest this course. It is not eveu like the provision made by the female insect for the young on leaving the egg, because it is not another individual that arises from the transformed larva, but the same ; and no doubt the larva knows very well how it will be situated by and bye, after transformation. But even supposing the larva remained and the moth became captive, it requires no food before laying its eggs, and the young larvro could easily leave the trap. Notwithstanding all this, we find the ••practical men" in New Zealand (who no donbt understand fruit-grow-ing), advising tho Government to enforce the use of the " Thissel " trap, and it" is only one example of what may be expected from the advice of a practical fruit-grower upon matters of entomology. Entomologist.