ENEMIES OF THE APPLE.[A]
[A] We are pleased to acknowledge our obligations for much of the following valuable information on our insect enemies and for the loan of cuts used to Prof. J. M. Stedman, of Columbia College, Mo., and Prof. E. E. Faville, of the Kansas Agricultural College.
APPLE-WORMS.
Many believe that worms are the parents of worms, and that they come suddenly, like a "wolf on the fold." A letter is received at this office telling of the sudden appearance in immense numbers of a worm that is destroying all that is before it, and wondering where they came from "so suddenly." Speaking of apple pests, the canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, the worm (larva) of the handmaid-moth, and the apple-worm (larva of the codling-moth), they did not come (travel) from anywhere; and no difference if they cover your trees, or are like the "sands on the seashore," they were all hatched right there on your trees.
An observer looks at an apple or a nut with a hole in it, and says, "There is where the worm went in." It is directly the opposite; that is where the worm went out. He hatched from an egg, placed on, near by or just under the surface of the fruit; and eating a burrow to the core it grew large and plump, became a full-grown worm, burrowed to the surface, and passed out. When you see worms hanging in great numbers from single webs or the bole of your tree alive, with myriads of worms crawling, some up, some down, some crosswise, know of a surety that they are not going _up_, but coming _down_ to Mother Earth. Insect life changes more in a day than humanity does in a year. These worms have quit feeding, and are in a nervous, uneasy, often blind and skin-tight condition, going through a change from the luxury of leaf or fruit eating to a desire and ability to burrow into a living tomb several inches below the earth's surface. These myriads of worms are doing you no harm now; they will never eat again, no matter how tempting the morsel. This shows the absurdity of bands of cotton, etc., placed about a tree when the bole is covered with worms, "to keep them from going up."
The real parents, the ones that lay the eggs and propagate their species, are usually winged moths or butterflies. A beautiful moth that you admire and will not allow your child to hurt may be the parent of the disgusting and destructive worms covering your trees or shrubs. In the following pages, we have tried in the least and simplest language to describe our commonest and most objectionable apple pests.
SPRING CANKER-WORM.
This is the worm that the amateur and the very busy man suddenly discovers in April defoliating his apple trees, and, on examination, he finds them in such myriads that he imagines some power has suddenly sown them broadcast over his orchard. See fig. 1. Had he been observant during the sunny middays of February, he would have noticed insects similar to figure 2 crawling up the bole of the tree, and looking closer, a little later, he would see small masses of eggs, shown in figures 3 _a_ and _b_, glued fast, usually near the base of limbs or twigs.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2. Adult Female.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3. _a_, Eggs deposited at base of limb. _b_, Egg mass.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4. _a_, Larva, or worm. _b_, Cluster, and a magnified egg.]
Along early in April these eggs, warmed by the same sun that swells the buds and causes the green tips of the leaves to protrude, hatch into tiny worms looking like a dark thread snipped into bits about an eighth of an inch long. These millions of tiny worms, scarcely visible, occupy their time eating and growing, and the orchardist is possibly unaware of the army he is feeding until they grow into lusty, fat worms, from one and one-eighth to one and one-fourth inches long, of a dark olive-green color, with black heads. See _a_, fig. 4. If disturbed they quickly spin a single web and fall suspended at its end, as in fig. 1. Their life, as worms, lasts only about six weeks, then they seem suddenly to have vanished. They have gone into the earth to pass into the pupa state, coming out the following spring as adults; the males with wings to fly, the female wingless, as in fig. 2, to crawl up the tree as described. Now, as these myriads of tiny worms must make the tons of grown worms entirely from the foliage on the trees in which they hatched, it is plain that the said foliage must suffer, and it will look as if scorched by fire.
_Remedies._ Bands smeared with sticky material put tightly around the tree bole early in February has stopped many a female from crawling up to lay her eggs. Spraying with London purple or Paris green, one pound with two pounds of lime and 150 gallons of water, is the common remedy. To be efficacious the drug must be of a normal strength, say forty-five per cent. arsenic, and as the worms grow larger and stronger the water must be lessened. When the worms are an inch or more long it may require only fifty gallons of water. Another formula is, two pounds white arsenic, four pounds sal soda, two gallons of water; boil until the arsenic is dissolved. One pint is enough for forty gallons of water. As the worms usually feed on the under side of the leaves, spraying should be from below as much as possible. "The early bird catches the worm" is true here. Therefore, spray while the worms are tiny and the foliage thin, and the work will count as the "stitch in time," destroying nine hundred and ninety-nine.
TENT-CATERPILLAR.
Nearly every one has seen the "tents" of these in neglected trees. See fig. 5. They usually betoken the too busy man--the man with too many irons in the fire. They are large, unsightly bunches of webs, closely woven together at the forks of twigs at the ends of limbs or branches. The parents of these worms are moths (see fig. 6) which appear in June each year, and deposit their eggs in clusters containing two or three hundred, surrounding small twigs. See fig. 7. Sharp eyes, a sharp knife and nimble fingers will bring many to the kitchen fire. These eggs hatch in the warm days of spring, and the tiny worms immediately seek and devour the tender buds and leaves. The day they hatch they begin to build the "tent." Those from the same mass of eggs, say 250, combine to make the home nest or tent. They come out from this tent to feed in the morning, return for a _siesta_ or sleep, and emerge again in the afternoon for a second feed.
[Illustration: FIG. 5. Tent with larvæ.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6. Adult.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8. Tent-caterpillar.]
They live in this way four or five weeks, becoming, when full grown, about two inches long and nearly as large as a lead-pencil. See fig. 8. They are black, with light-colored tufts of hair on the back. Down the center of the back is a white line bordered with irregular yellowish lines. The sides of the body are marked with pale blue, while the under side of the worm is black. When grown they pass to the ground and hunt a sheltered place, where they spin a cocoon, from which, in about three weeks, emerges the adult moth, fig. 6, the color of which varies from yellowish to reddish brown. The front wings each contain two oblique, whitish lines, dividing the wing into three nearly equal parts. These moths are night flyers during the last half of June and first half of July. They eat nothing. The female lays her eggs as described, and dies.
_Remedies._ Spare the birds; put up boxes for the bats and owls. Cut off the egg clusters during the winter. Cut and burn the tents, or burn the tents on the tree, with any kind of a torch. Early morning or late evening is the time, as they are then all home. Spray the foliage nearest the tents with solutions for canker-worm.
CODLING-MOTH.
The apple-worm, which every apple eater has found many times in the apple, is the child of the codling-moth. See _b_, fig. 9. It is a scourge all over the apple-growing district. It destroys or reduces the value of the apple crop many millions of dollars annually.
[Illustration: FIG. 9. _a_, Female Codling-moth. _b_, Larva of same in apple.]
The parent--adult insect, or moth--see _a_, fig. 9, is a small moth with a spread of wings three-fourths of an inch, the first pair marked with wavy lines of gray and brown, with a large, oval brown spot, streaked coppery, on hinder margin. The hind wings are yellowish brown. These moths appear, and begin to lay on the surface of the leaves, in the calyx, or on the surface of the apple, about the 1st of May. The eggs hatch in about one week, and the young worm immediately begins to burrow into the apple, working its way to the center, where it works around the core, gaining strength and size for about three weeks, when it leaves the apple and seeks a hiding place in which to spin its cocoon, the favorite place being under projections of the rough bark of the tree. When first hatched these worms are small, hardly one-eighth of an inch long, white, with a black head and shoulders. When mature, the body is pinkish and the head and shoulders brown. The adult, _a_, fig. 9, issues from the cocoon in about two weeks, appearing near June 15. They commence at once to lay eggs. The worms of this, the second brood, live in the apple all winter, and it is these that disgust the apple eater and cut the profits of the orchardist.
_Remedies._ The same spray as for canker-worms, used just after the petals of the blossom fall. No eggs are deposited earlier than this. At this time the calyx cup is open, and a little poison in it is apt to prove fatal to the infant worm. In a few days after the egg is laid the calyx closes, and no spray will reach the worm. Remember, this early spraying does away with the parents of the _second_ brood, and hence should not be neglected. Bands of burlaps, paper or other material, loosely tied about the tree before June 1, make attractive places for the worms to pupate in. These bands should be examined often, say weekly, and all worms killed. Fallen fruit should be gathered and fed to stock. Cellars, caves and fruit houses should be thoroughly cleaned and fumigated and the cleanings burned every spring, as many thousands of moths are wintered over in them.
FLAT-HEADED BORER.
The adult, fig. 10, is flat, about three-eighths of an inch long, of a greenish black with coppery reflections. They appear about the last of May and deposit eggs from then until September. They generally lay their eggs in a diseased portion of the tree, where it has been bruised, or sun-scalded, or in trees of weak vitality, in bad health from lack of cultivation or moisture, or from soil poverty. The eggs are small and yellowish, and are found singly or in numbers in crevices in the bark. The larva, or borer, fig. 11, when young, is yellowish, with a broad, flat head; it soon bores to the sap-wood, where it feeds. At this time it is easily discovered by the "castings" from the opening. As they become older and larger they bore into the harder wood, making flattened chambers. In about a year they gnaw a channel to the outside, excepting a thin layer of bark, and backing a little way they crowd castings to the front and change into the perfect insect, emerging about the last of May.
[Illustration: FIG. 10. Adult Flat-headed Borer.]
[Illustration: FIG. 11. Larva of a Flat-headed Borer.]
_Remedies._ Keep the tree thrifty, free from bruises or sun-scald, and the flow of sap will drown them. If any are detected by the castings, cut in, and use a hooked wire to pull them out. Some washes will deter the female from depositing eggs. For instance: Equal parts of soft soap and sal soda, with enough crude carbolic acid to give a strong odor. Apply with a brush several times in a season, especially where the bark appears unhealthy.
ROUND-HEADED BORER.
Attacks the same trees under the same conditions as the flat-headed borer. The adult, fig. 12, is about five-eighths of an inch long, brown above, with two white stripes the whole length of the back. Head and under surface grayish. It is a night flyer. The female appears about June 1, and stays until September. She deposits her eggs at night, in small incisions made angling into the bark, generally near the ground. In about two weeks they hatch, and the little borers, _a_, fig. 13, begin to bore their way into the inner bark and sap-wood, leaving the bore filled with "castings," fig. 14. For two summers they stay in the sap-wood and do great damage, often girdling young trees. After the second winter they cut channels up into the hard wood; attaining their growth by fall, they burrow outward to the under side of the bark, and there remain until spring, changing to adults. See _b_, fig. 13. They then gnaw through the bark, and emerge about June 1 to propagate their species.
_Remedies._ Same as for flat-headed borer.
[Illustration: FIG. 12. Adult Round-headed Borer, greatly enlarged.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13. Larva and pupa of the Round-headed Borer.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14. _a_, Incision in which egg is deposited; _b_, same, the wood has been split along line _a_; _e_, showing egg in place; _c_, showing how egg is inserted under bark; _d_, egg greatly magnified; _e_, hole through which adult emerged; _f_, channel of larva; _g_, insect in pupal state just before issuing as an adult.]
TREE WASHES FOR BORERS.
Observations by members of the Kansas State Horticultural Society.
A. Chandler: I used a tree wash last year on apple trees for borers and insects. I have been troubled in my timber (recently cleared) land with borers, and if I had not taken this precaution they would have been worse. It is known as the "Carnahan tree wash." Obtaining it ready prepared in a can, I applied it in June with a whitewash brush to the tree trunks and a portion of the limbs, and found it very beneficial. While it will not _destroy_ the borer, I think it will prevent the borer beetle from depositing eggs on the outside. From the healthy appearance of the tree and the smooth appearance of the bark, I think it equals anything I ever tried. It is also good for the prevention of other insects, as tree-crickets, etc., and I think it will destroy the curculio to some extent, and will prevent insects climbing the trees. My trees never looked more thrifty. I cannot say it will prevent root-rot.
F. Holsinger: I would like to inquire whether your ground was thoroughly cultivated?
A. Chandler: All the cultivation I could give would not prevent borers. I applied the wash from the ground up, as far as I could reach. It costs about two cents per tree from four to six years old, and I do not know but what that might be reduced. This wash is obtained in gallon and half-gallon cans. It should be applied about twice a year--spring and fall--costing about four cents per year for each tree.
T. A. Stanley: Would not a strong lime wash do as well.
A. Chandler: No; I have no success with it. If the borer is in the tree, you must dig him out with a knife. By examination you can tell whether borers have deposited eggs or not. I do not say it will rid the tree of borers if they have been allowed to deposit eggs and are left for years. It makes the tree grow more vigorous. I do not know what is in this tree wash, but it did no damage.
B. F. Smith: Chandler has tried this wash, and it has proven successful with him. There are always new things being tried. If he has found something good for trees, we should not object to it. If I receive a package I will try it.
T. A. Stanley: My experience with borers will date back as far as fifty years ago, when I was a boy, and the best thing to exterminate them with was a jack-knife. A Boston gentleman visiting my father went into the orchard and asked father if he had ever seen any borers. Father told him he knew nothing about them (they were something new in those days). Examining a tree, he took out his jack-knife and went to work near the ground, and he soon showed why the tree was not doing well. With his knife he dug the borer out and said the jack-knife was the best exterminator he knew of. My experience is, if you will attend to it about the 1st of June, when the beetles come out on the tree and deposit their eggs behind loose scales of bark, and wash the tree with strong lime wash, it will kill them. I prefer lime wash to any "nostrum" ever introduced. When they once get into the tree no wash will take them out. Horticulturists have been deceived enough by patent nostrums.
E. J. Holman: By instinct this insect never lays its eggs on the surface. It lays as completely in the wood as the locust, which punctures almost to the heart of a twig. A borer lives three years in the wood; the third year it comes out in perfect form. It goes below in the wood every winter, and the third spring passes the cocoon stage there. They lay about fifty eggs, each placed separate and apart in the wood. Rarely does an egg fail to hatch.
J. W. Robison: These beetles are very fierce. Put a half dozen into a bottle and they will beat a bull fight, and will not stop until they kill each other. She is a philosopher; she makes punctures sideways, so the eggs can be laid in a row, and the bark close over them. It is only a few days until they hatch; open the lip where deposited and you can see them plainly. Without cutting the bark, thrust your knife under the lip and you can hear the eggs crack. The larva works round and round until of the size of a pea, and then usually starts upward until he gets level with the surface of the ground, staying there until the next season. He comes up early in the spring. My practice is to hoe around the tree before the time for the round-headed borer to deposit eggs. I keep the weeds clear, so that I can see where the borer went in. If he has been in a year or two he is near the middle, and you had better let him alone, as it will injure the tree to remove him. It is impossible to get rid of these borers by a wash, because the eggs are covered. There is no connection between the round-headed and flat-headed borers.
T. A. Stanley: It requires three years for the borer to mature and come out. In my experience, the borer selects a spot where loose bark is on the tree, and goes in where it is tender. It lays eggs in even rows. These eggs stay under the bark but a short time when they hatch and the little worm eats into the tender bark, and goes through it, to live and grow there; when large enough they go into the body of the tree. They stay there for three years. Scrape off the bark and put whitewash on the eggs and it will destroy them.
President Wellhouse: By taking a knife, cutting into the tree, and running a hooked wire in, you can pull them out. Each female beetle deposits fifty or sixty eggs, and we find it better and less expensive to hunt the borers early in the spring. By carefully examining the bottom of the tree for six or eight inches above the ground you will see a little brown spot. He came to the bark the fall previous, and sets about two inches back in his cavity. If you wait till May, he is out and gone; he is easier taken out in spring than later. By killing the insect you prevent the egg laying. We always have our men hunt for the insects that are about to come out. It is easy to find the little brown spot about the size of your finger end, and you can kill them by pouring a few drops of coal-oil from a machine can into the cavity.
Dr. J. Stayman: Can we prevent the borer from entering the tree? I have practiced banking up my trees as steep as I can, about a foot high; less may do. The beetle will not deposit eggs where the tree is banked up. I have practiced this for thirty years, and have never seen a borer in my trees since I began it. Like these gentlemen, I at first cut out the borers. We can prevent them by banking up early in the spring. By instinct, it knows the bank will wash down. If it deposits its eggs, how easy to scrape away the mound. I never saw a flathead borer on a tree that was banked. They always work on the south side, where the sun shines on the tree.
BUD MOTH.
This insect is often very destructive, attacking the blossom and leaf-buds, and in a few mouthfuls destroying that which must make the leaves and fruit, "nipping in the bud" the entire crop of fruit and debilitating the tree. This worm works in early spring, as soon as the buds begin to open; it delights in the prominent terminal buds and its work stops all new growth, causes many leaves to turn brown, and thus brings to the notice of the orchardist its bad work. The moth measures about three-quarters of an inch across its wings, and is mainly a gray color, the middle of the fore wings being lighter, or creamy. This insect first appears on the buds as a small, dark brown worm, about one-fourth of an inch long, with shining black head and shoulders. It imbeds itself in the center of the bud, tying the leaves together with its web. It is an irregular worker, and leaves the bud in a ragged, brown, dilapidated condition.
Its work is most destructive in the nursery, destroying terminal shoots, which sadly interferes with the growth and symmetry of the young tree. Sometimes it burrows from the bud into the pith of the twig for several inches, killing the shoot to the tip. The worm finally settles upon a leaf, cutting the leaf stalk partly off, so that the leaf withers; it then rolls this soft, wilted leaf into a tube around its body, fastening it with webs and lining it for a nest. From this tube nest it comes forth only at night to feed, and when disturbed it hastens into it out of sight. In feeding, it draws leaves towards its home by silken threads, thus forming a bunch of partly eaten leaves, which turn brown, making the nest conspicuous.
After attaining its growth it lies as a pupa in its silk-lined tube about ten days, when it emerges an adult moth, and in three or four days begins to lay its eggs. These moths appear from about June 1 and remain to July 5 or July 10. They are night flyers, and do no damage in the winged state. As the worms are leaf-eaters, spraying with London purple or Paris green, as for canker-worms, must kill many. Whenever their nests are seen they should, if possible, be gathered and burned, and in a badly infested orchard it will pay to rake and burn all the leaves under the trees.
APPLE CURCULIO.
[Illustration: FIG. 15. _a_, Beetle, natural size; _b_, beetle, magnified; _c_, side and back view of same, magnified.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16. _a_, Pupa stage; _b_, larva, or worm. Hair-lines to the left of pupa show natural size.]
This insect, fig. 15, is usually of a uniform rusty brown color. Four humps or tubercles are easily seen, two on each wing cover near the rear. The snout varies from half to the full length of the insect. With this snout it drills round holes into the apple; these holes are made for food, and are about one-tenth of an inch deep, widened out below like a gourd. The female deposits an egg in such hole, which soon hatches into a tiny worm that usually burrows to the core, and produces a reddish excrement. In a month, when fully grown, the worm is soft and white, without feet, wrinkled, and curved crosswise, as in _b_, fig. 16; too humped and crooked to crawl about out of the apple, it stays in and changes to pupa, as in _a_, fig. 16, leaving the apple as a perfect beetle after two or three weeks. It passes the winter in the adult state and begins laying eggs about June 1, continuing until late in August. President Wellhouse says he has surely reduced them by spraying.
LEAF-CRUMPLER, or LEAF-ROLLER.
[Illustration: FIG. 17. FIG. 18. Here _a_ represents worm case; _b_, case attached to a limb; _c_, head and first segments; _d_, perfect moth. All are magnified; the hair-lines just under the moth, _d_, represent the natural size.]
The parent of this is a small grayish moth, _d_, fig. 17, which emerges from the unsightly mass of dry leaves, as in _b_, fig. 18, formed the previous season by the insect, and may be seen, gathered, and burned, during the winter. The female immediately begins laying eggs upon the leaves of the tree. During the fore part of June small, brownish worms appear, which at once construct tubular silken cases, in which they hide. They leave these cases, generally at night, to feed. As they grow they attach webs to the partly eaten leaves and gather them about themselves, so that finally the irregular mass of leaves completely hides the tubular case. In the spring, as the buds swell and the leaves appear, they come out and do great damage. They grow until in May, when they close up the opening to the case, and in two weeks the moth emerges, as above.
_Remedies._ There are two parasites that prey upon them. Collect the cases and tufts of leaves during the winter and burn them. The spray recommended for canker-worm is successful in destroying them.
TWIG-GIRDLER, TWIG-PRUNER, and TWIG-BORER.
Sometimes trouble orchards, but in Kansas they are not bad. Their habits are indicated by their names, and it is scarcely necessary to describe them in this work. Numerous bulletins are issued free, describing them and their habits. See fig. 19.
[Illustration: FIG. 19. Twig-girdler at work.]
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.
ROOT-LOUSE.
They work underground, puncturing the root to draw its nourishing juice, causing the root tissue to expand into knots and irregularities, _a_, fig. 20, thus making the roots unhealthy and very brittle. These insects are often found in myriads, looking like bluish-white wool, on the roots. Certain beetles, maggots and flies prey upon them, but to only a small extent.
[Illustration: FIG. 20. Root-louse.]
_Remedy._ Scalding water, at 150 degrees, poured on the uncovered roots. If some concentrated lye is added it is still better. Filling above the roots with tobacco dust is recommended. Soap-suds and wood ashes are beneficial. Young trees from the nursery, if infested, should have the roots well trimmed (burn the trimmings) and then dipped in lye. If quite hot it is still better.
FRINGED-WING APPLE-BUD MOTH.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.]
[Illustration: FIG. 23.]
The following is condensed from bulletin No. 42, written by Prof. J. M. Stedman, entomologist of the state university, Columbia, Mo.: The fringed-wing apple-bud moth is a new and heretofore undescribed species of insect, increasing rapidly and infesting new areas. The best spray to destroy them is, one pound pure Paris green, three pounds of fresh lime, and 150 gallons of water, constantly agitated while spraying. First application as soon as the buds open sufficiently to give the tree a green tinge; second, five days later; third, at time flower-buds open; if it rains do it over at once. Kill the worms before they eat into the bud. The egg is very small, light yellow, and oval, and apt to escape notice. The young worm is also very small when hatched and of a light yellow color, which afterwards turns to pale green, a shining black head, and a brown spot (which soon turns black) back of the head. It has three pairs of dark-colored true legs under its fore parts, and five pairs of prolegs under the rear three-fifths of the body. As soon as hatched they begin to feed on the unfolding leaves, and at once crawl to the heart of the expanded flower or leaf-bud.
[Illustration: FIG. 24. Work of the Fringed-wing Apple-bud Moth.]
The destructive effects cause the tree to look as if swept by fire, owing to the brown and partly developed foliage. See fig. 24. These worms (fig. 21) complete their growth in about four weeks, enter the earth, and, passing one or two inches below the surface, spin a cocoon. They come out as adult moths in about six weeks, or about the middle of July. Fig. 22 is the moth enlarged; fig. 23, natural size. The females soon begin to lay eggs, singly, on the young apple leaves. From these eggs a second brood is hatched more quickly than the spring brood. This second brood often eats through the heart of the terminal bud into the twig. When grown, this second brood enters the ground as did the first, but do not come forth as adults until the following spring.
RABBITS.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.]
[Illustration: FIG. 26.]
The Wellhouse rabbit trap, of which we here give description and illustrations, is one used by President Wellhouse. He has 3000 of them, distributed two per acre, and says it is the result of thirty years' experience. He uses nothing else to protect his trees. Figure 25 is a longitudinal section of the trap. Figure 26 is a front-end view of the trap, on a scale three times that of fig. 25, and shows the details of the door. The trap consists of a box made of fence boards (old ones preferred) six inches wide and one inch thick. The boards are cut twenty-two inches long, and the top and bottom boards are nailed onto the side boards, thus making the opening four inches wide and six inches high. The door, _a_, is made of wire, shaped as shown in fig. 26, and hung to under side of the top board with two staples, shown at _dd_. The trigger, _b_, is of wire, bent as in fig. 25, spread out, or with a loop or figure 8, at the hanging end, and is fastened loosely along the center on the under side of the top board with two staples.
To operate the trap, push the door, _a_, inward, and with the forefinger catch the hooked end of the trigger, _g_, and pull it forward until the door rests on the wire above the hook at _g_. The rabbit enters the trap, prompted by curiosity or otherwise, and by so doing pushes the trigger, _c_, back as he would a little brush in a hollow log, without any suspicion or alarm. This action loosens the door, which falls behind him, its lower edge resting against the shoulder at _f_, and bunny is then caught. This trap was invented by Walter Wellhouse, but it is not patented. He uses no bait. The trap cannot be sprung by birds or wind. If new lumber is used, it must be stained some dark color, using material not offensive to a rabbit's delicate sense of smell.