The Apple / The Kansas Apple, the Big Red Apple; the Luscious, Red-Cheeked First Love of the Farmer's Boy; the Healthful, Hearty Heart of the Darling Dumpling. What It Is; How to Grow It; Its Commercial and Economic Importance; How to Utilize It.

by Unknown

ROOT-LOUSE, OR WOOLLY APHIS.

The young are hatched from a minute egg laid in crevices of the bark, near the ground, and are covered with white down. The grown female measures about one-tenth of an inch in length, oval in shape, with black head and feet, dusty legs and antennæ. They attach themselves to the branches and trunk with their long beaks, sucking the vitality from the tree, which they will kill if in large numbers. During the summer the females are wingless, but at autumn both sexes have wings, and it is in this condition that they spread rapidly. They are produced alive at this time of the year with wonderful rapidity. Where plentiful the trunk and branches have a moldy appearance. "Lady-birds" and their larvæ, the larvæ of lace-winged flies and syrphus-flies, the small chalcid fly and spiders devour them. No birds are known to feed upon them.

Remedy. Plenty of lye wash, even soap-suds or soap wash is good. Kerosene emulsion is good. The insect above described is only one form, viz., woolly aphis. The other form, as root-louse, is described below. To the public they are two distinct insects.

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