CODLIN MOTH.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1557, 28 September 1912, Page 8

CODLIN MOTH.

THE NECESSITY FOR SPRAYING. Preparation should now be made, says Mr. YV. A. Boucher, Government I'omolo■gist, to keep the codlin moth pest under control. It is generally recognised that spraying with arsenate of lead offers the most effective means of doing so. Quite early in the season, especially in the warmer districts of the Dominion, the dormant grubs change to the puna' form and emerge from the cocoons as moths. They are not present in very largo numbers, it is true, but 'quite sufficient to produco a fair percentage of infection if the necessary preventive measures are not adopted. These remarks ?pply to apples and especially to pears. In the case of pears tho newly-hatched grub almost invariably enters through the eye or calyx. On this account it. is essentially necessay that tho first spray should be applied as soon as possible after tho fruit has set, so that the poison may enter tho calyx before it closes, and remain there to-pro-tect the fruit from infection throughout the season. To delay spraying with the arsenate of lead until the calyx has closed will probably involve a loss of at least 50 per cent of the crop, in spite of anj effort that may be made later to control infection satisfactorily. To economise labour, and expense the arsenate should be added to tho Bordeaux mixture, 4-5-50 formula, for the first, and'possibly second, spraying after the fruit lias'set, thus protecting the fruit against infection by codlin moth, apple or pear scab. Several brands of. arsenate of lead are now being offered to . growers, who are advised to select one of recognised- value. Some brands have been, proved to be effective'without, being harmful, others not only ineffective, being deficient in killingpower,..but. decidedly'injurious owing to the degree of scorching or burning of the foliage which has followed their application:- . .. V '. .