Farmers’ Chat.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2056, 18 April 1887, Page 2

Farmers’ Chat.

“ Look here Mr Jones, what is the matter with these apples ? They are all worm eaten, fit for nothing, but to feed pigs on. I can’t make it out, as I never saw my apples served this way before.” *• That is the work of the codlin moth, neighbour,” said I, as I looked at the fruit. “It has been known in the Wairarapa two or three years, I believe, and is just beginning to make its presence felt. You are not the only sufferer 1 dare say.” “ No, I’m not; I've heard of several gardens in and around Greytown where the apples have gone the same way, but this is the first time my fruit has been troubled with it." “ And it will be a greater trouble still ” said 1. “If people are careless iu this matter, in a few years there will bo very few marketable apples grown in the district. It will be a heavy loss, as there have been thousands of fruit trees planted in the Wairarapa the last few years, of which a large proportion are apple trees, which are now, or soon will be, in bearing.”

“ Don’t you think it will die out like the American blight, that used to bo so bad years ago ? Many people thought that was going to kill all the apple trees, and would not plant for fear of it. But it seems to have died out; at any rate its effects are uot so severely felt.” “ No, it will not dio out ; at least it has never done so yet wherever it bus made its appearance ; but haa rapidlv increased and spread over whole districts. It is a great trouble to English and Amoriean apple growers, destroying fruit to the value of thousands of pounds. 1 read lately ofau American grower who used to ship 0000 ’dollars worth of apples, just about £IOOO of our mouey. The codlin moth made its appearance, and in five years the value of his crop had dwindled to two hundred dollars, less than fifty pounds.” “ I did” uot thiuk it was such a formidable pest as that. Are there no means of getting rid of it P ” “ Yes, I believe it can be destroyed .if its numbers so diminished that its ■avages will not be severely felt, here have been a good number of cmediei tried, some more eliectual ban othtns, but however effective any emedv mav prove to be, it would be ..f little avail for only a few persons o adopt it. The case would bo sum* ir to a sheep farmer trying to rid his lock of t-eab whoa his neighbours locks all ar.mnd him wore suffering pom (hesame disease, and they doing mi lung to got nd ol it. L ulled action alone will successfully cope *ith the

pest, which, if allowed to spread unchecked, will undoubtedly in a very few years, cause the almost total destruction nt the apple harvest in this and other districts, but I suppose people will not bestir themselves in the matter until serious damage ha? resulted from neglect,when it will cost an infinite greater amount of time and trouble to conquer than it would now.” “ No, I suppose not. People do not seem to have much foresight in these matters, or if they do they arc indifferent about them, until forced by repeated and increasing losses, to adopt methods for the extinction of. or abatiig the nuisance, whatever it mav be. The rabbit nuisance would never have assumed the gigantic proportions it has if had not been neglee ted.” “ No, and the same may be said of the sparrows. Although we do not j Jet hear many complaints about them j ere, they are steadily increasing in numbers and ere long will be a perfect plague to farmers unless united action is quickly taken against then, by poisoning. Even now it is useless to *ow a single acre, or even two in oata ; the sparrows would leave nothing but straw. But to return to our subject. 1 think it would be we'l for all who have the codlio moth in their orchards not to let another season pass without making a good attempt to overcome the enemy. What is a good remedy ? and when is the beat time to apply it ? “ Ido not know what is the best ; there are so many proposed, but London Purple or Paris Green (two very similar poisons) have been found very effective for the purpose. They are used in the proportion of the poison to 100 gallons of water. If that quantity is more than you require, halve it by using a j pound of poison to 50 gallons of water. If you have bnt a few trees halve it again by using 2ozs poison to 25 gallons of water ; the mixture will still he of the same strength. The best way to apply it is with a syringe, which need not oust more thau six shillings To quote from an American paper, “ The poison should be applied soon after the fruit sets, at first the caly or eye of the young apple points upwards. The moth lavs an egg in the caly or eye, where it hatches, and the young worm eats its way into the apple, and in doing this partakes of the poison which has been sprinkled on the fruit. The small quantity of the poison used, and the long time before the fruit will be ripe, remove all chances of danger. In using cither poison, the mixture should be kept well stirred, a? these substances are heavy and srou settle.” “ What is the moth like, 1 don’t think I ever saw it?” j “ According to an observer it is a very beautiful insect, about threequarters of an inch in length : fore wings ashy brown, with very numerous, rather obscure, darker transverse streaks, united into a broadish band towards the base, giving them a damasked appearance. On the hind border of the foie wings is a large reddish brown patch, spotted and surrounded with a golden mark. The hind wings are reddish brown, tinged with yellow.” “ Does the moth always lay her eggs in the eye of the apple ?” “ Nearly always. < tccasionally they will bo found deposited near the stalk ; in which case the grub begins business at that end.” “ Uow long do the eggs remain before they ate hatched ? ’ “Only a few days; when a small whitish grub appears, which immediately begins to eat its way into the apple.” “ How long does the grub remain in the apple ?” “ About three weeks or a month, by which time it has attained its full s : ze and if (as generally happens) the apple has fallen to the ground, it immediately sets about spinning itself a cocoon and changes into a chrysalis, from which in course of time the moth emerges.”

“ It weuld be a good thing if the moths could be destroyed before their eggs were laid, wouldn’t it r” “ Yes, I believe, great numbers of the moths have been caught by placing at night, among the trees, dishes containing sweet cider, of which, however, there is not much manufactured in New Zealand. Vinegar, sugar and water, placed in any convenient vessel has been used successfully. The-cent of the iiqti >r attract? them, into which they fail and are df'iwued, or can be destroyed the next morning,” “Weill shah try both ways next season—trapping the moths, and poisoning the grubs.’’ “ How often do you think the trees would require spraving r” “ That would depend upon the weather It it was -n 'V.ciy h.< poi-.m would soon a.i-'. oil. when tne treeof course »-.Ui i again n quo e >pra - ing. If the weather was line, m -r onee a (ortn _ r ht, 1 in-i. -i ofteti enough.” " 1 a.iuld ih it a 1 * i -■■ win i i e orchards w-.i.-i take an to :e-t :i : is subject, commensurate w; : :?y and leave no mean- nntn. l r: i, ; at oi.lv th:-' l;-tra t. .''.u I e "... e t New Z I.V 'i, ■f a |w?i. a ic 1 -. It i r once ! Cl- ■ a - tinn.i • ei, M l prove acir-e t.. tie appl- g ■ .v. t- -1 thi- .■ av’ \, ; t,.- cr mate • fv.n. • t ... - - adc ir.ih.y -uited to app e cultivate n