Another great enemy to the cultivation of the Apple is the Anthonymus pomorum, commonly known as the Apple weevil. This small insect, which is from one and a half to two lines in length, has often been found to destroy almost the whole crop of an orchard. It finds a shelter under the bark of the tree or amongst the soil at the roots thereof in winter: when spring has come in, and the buds begin to get soft and full of sap, the female parent ascends thereto, and with her proboscis bores a hole into the bud, whereby she is enabled to deposit a single egg in every blossom. As she produces a great number of eggs, a very few females are necessary to destroy every bud upon a large tree. According to the state or condition of the weather these eggs will be hatched, and produce the grub or larva of the weevil from the middle of April till the first or second week of May. As soon as they have arrived at this stage of existence so soon does their work of destruction begin. The generative parts of the blossom are always the first to suffer, although eventually the whole contents of the bud are often devoured. It is very rapid in its transformation from one stage of existence to another, as a few days only elapse until it is changed into the beetle form.

In this stage it remains, and during summer and autumn lodges upon the tree and feeds upon the foliage. Ere winter has set, it secures for itself a habitation under the loose bark of the tree, which position it generally prefers; but should no such lodgment present itself, it seeks repose amongst the soil and roots. The cure recommended by most of our writers is the application of spirits of tar to the trunk and branches during winter. Of its efficacy I have not the smallest doubt whatever, but I should very much fear the result of such an application upon the general health and wellbeing of the tree. I should rather prefer to have the whole of the loose bark removed during winter, and thereafter wash the whole tree with a good hard brush and soap and water. Thereafter remove all the soil to the depth of 1 inch all round the tree where there is a possibility of any of them having fallen during the operation. This done, I have great faith in its beneficial results.

The Rhynchites Bacchus or purple Apple weevil proves often very injurious to fruit-trees about midsummer, when the fruit is half swollen. Having bored a hole into the interior of the Apple, it therein deposits its eggs, which in the course of a few days produce a whitish sort of grub. It feeds upon the flesh of the Apple for a few weeks; and about the beginning of September it leaves and buries itself in the soil, where it remains for the winter. A good plan to destroy it is to shake a quantity of quicklime underneath the tree about the month of June and July, thereafter shaking the tree to make them fall, when the effects of lime upon them while in the grub state will destroy every one of them. All fruit which has fallen through their instrumentality should at once be gathered and destroyed, as by so doing a number of them are sure to perish.

The Tenthredo testudinea, or Apple saw-fly, is another enemy which not only destroys the blossoms but also the fruit. About the end of May it deposits its eggs on the blossom, which by the end of June or beginning of July have assumed their larva form. The larva thereupon makes a regular attack upon the flesh of the fruit, more particularly upon that portion of it next the core. In the course of a short time, through the injury sustained by the Apple, it falls to the ground, whereupon the larva sets to work to eat himself out of his prison. This accomplished, it commences to make a cocoon for itself in the earth, where it remains till the following spring. Gathering the fallen Apples and consigning them to the fire is the simplest and best mode of destroying them, as at that season of the year the fruit is the only place where they are to be found. Removing the soil for a few inches deep round the trees in winter may prove a very great help to destroy them.

The Carpocapsa pomonella, or codling moth, is another enemy to be contended against, and in its habits and depredations it much resembles the purple Apple weevil. It begins its work much earlier in the season, however, depositing its eggs about the middle of May either on the stalk or in the eye of the young fruit. Shortly thereafter the grub makes its appearance, and eats its way into the Apple, where it remains and obtains its food for several weeks. The fruit so attacked usually falls to the ground, where a cocoon is generally formed, and a change thereafter into the chrysalis form. Shortly after it appears in its perfect state as a moth, and is succeeded by another generation of grubs. The same means must be adopted to destroy it as already recommended in the former cases - viz., destroying the affected Apples and cleaning the stems of the trees, as well as removing the soil around the roots in winter.

The Rhynchites alliaria, or stem-boring weevil, at times proves very injurious to nurserymen and other propagators of the Apple by depositing its eggs in newly-grafted scions, and thereafter cutting them over in early spring. It is of a steel-blue colour, and not more than one and a half lines in length. This is perhaps the most curious and scientific enemy with which we have to contend, and it may prove interesting to many to give a detailed account of its operations as noticed and recorded by Kollar. He says: "As soon as she has reached the most suitable part of the shoot, she marks the place by a prick or by a small cut where she intends to cut off the bud or shoot. She then recedes about a line upwards and begins (with her head turned downwards) on the side that is not next the tree to bore it with her proboscis till she reaches the middle of the shoot. With it she also widens the chamber and prepares it for her offspring. She then places herself over the entrance and lays an egg, which is pushed in by the proboscis and conveyed to the proper place. This operation lasts an hour.

Immediately after, the female returns to the former place to cut off the shoot, moving it from the one side to the other with her proboscis until she has cut it to a certain depth; she then gives some decided thrusts, which she continues without fatigue till the shoot only hangs by the under part. When she observes this she gets up on the point of the twig to make it fall over by her own weight. It not unfre-quently happens that it falls immediately, the shoot having previously been so cut as to remain attached to the stem only by the bark. If the beetle, however, finds that the pierced shoot does not fall, she turns back to labour again at the same place, and cuts still deeper into the branch, and if she is not able to divide it, she gets up once more to the extremity, by which means she generally succeeds in bringing the separated branch to the ground. When this labour is over she feeds upon a leaf, scraping off the epidermis, which serves her as food. After the beetle has rested for an hour she goes again to work, and if there be still a place for the reception of a second egg on the shoot she has divided from the stem, she bores a second hole with her proboscis near the first, and laying another egg, pushes it into its proper place.

When the twilight comes on she reposes under a leaf for the night. Next morning, as soon as the sun is up, the female beetle again begins her work, and often continues this employment until after the end of June, so as by this means to leave a numerous offspring behind her. The egg in the shoot is hatched in the course of eight days, and a white grub with a black head then makes its appearance. It feeds upon the pith of the shoot, and if the shoots fall off it arrives at its full size in four weeks. It then leaves its dwelling and buries itself some inches deep in the earth. It there prepares itself a roomy chamber, in which it remains till spring, when it again appears as a steel-blue-coloured weevil." To destroy this enemy, all the fallen shoots ought to be removed at once and burned, and in winter the soil ought to be removed to the depth of 5 or 6 inches. With care and attention to these two particulars, and at the same time burning the soil removed, the enemy may at once and effectually be removed.

Aspidiotus conchiformis, or Apple-tree mussel-scale, is most prevalent upon trees trained upon the wall, yet, nevertheless, it is sometimes to be found upon standards also. It is very small, and invariably of the same colour as the bark, so that its presence is not easily detected. It attacks both the trunk and branches, and proves often very destructive. The scales are of a dark shining appearance, and sometimes so numerous as to be laid layer above layer. They sometimes extend even to the fruit, and when this is the case, they entirely destroy its appearance. Many methods have been adopted for its destruction, but the most simple, and perhaps the least injurious to the tree, is to scrape the bark thoroughly, and thereafter to wash the branches with soft soap and warm water, scrubbing it well with a hard brush. This may be done in winter, and again in spring. Let all the soil, to the depth of an inch, be removed under the tree, and burned, and the chances are that a second application may not be necessary.

There are several varieties of the caterpillar which prove very injurious to Apple and other fruit trees. The principal ones, however, are the Episema caeruleocephala, or caterpillar of the figure of 8 moth; the Hibernia brumata, or caterpillar of the winter moth; the Zeuzera sesculi, or wood-leopard moth caterpillar; and the Cossus ligniperda, or caterpillar of the goat moth. Each and all of these often prove very injurious to our fruit-trees in spring and summer, by either boring into the wood under the bark, or eating and otherwise destroying the foliage. Some of them even attack the buds, blossoms, and young fruit. The most common one, however, is the Yponomenta malivorella, or caterpillar of the ermine Apple moth, which covers the shoots and branches with thick webs in early summer. In these webs it makes cocoons, which change shortly after into a chrysalis, which, by the beginning of July, produces the perfect moth. Its nourishment is entirely derived from the leaves of the tree. The best and surest method to destroy the whole of this family is to hand-pick them, at the same time having quicklime pretty freely sprinkled around the bottom of the tree, so that those which fall may be destroyed thereby.

James M'Mill an.

(To be continued).

P.S. - I notice in my last article (see p. 397) that I have very inadvertently made a slight mistake, which I hasten to rectify. In speaking of the receipt for destroying mealy bug, as given to me by Mr Rose, I ought to have written, "To one part spirits of tar, one part paraffin, must be added two parts of train-oil." In place of the word "paraffin" I have written "turpentine;" and in case it may lead to any mistake, I have now rectified it at the earliest opportunity.

J. M'M.