The Codlin moth

Some time ago I called the attention of the Society to the devastation created by the larvae of the codlin moth in the orchards in the Northern parts of the Colony. It has appeared in the orchards in the vicinity of Hobart Town during the last year to an extent that must alarm all those concerned in apple growing, and this is an extensive industry representing an export trade of not less than £40,000 a year.
On the former occasion I pointed out something of the history and habits of the moth and its larvve, but the all important question now is, how it can best be destroyed? After the moth has deposited an egg in the eye of the young apple, and it seldom deposits more than one egg in an apple, the egg hatches and the young creature eats its way through the tender skin of the apple at its eye, into the substance. The orchardist is not aware of its presence till he sees a dark spot on his apple, and then a hole from which the creature expels small grains of excrementitious matter which cover the orifice of the hole. It feeds on the pulp and attacks the pips, the most vital part of the apple, which then falls and the creature escapes through the orifice which it has made. Its exit is rapid, and many apples may be examined in the morning, which have fallen during the night, before one is found in which a grub remains.