. But the worst of all are the Tortrix Moths or
Rose Maggots, whose repulsive grubs eat the unopened blossoms and spin
the delicate young leaves together, destroying the whole top of the new
shoots. There are many varieties of Tortrix, which are all quite small
moths, and their caterpillars or "Maggots" are the most unpleasant and
destructive of all we have to deal with. The worst of all are the Red
and the Brown Rose Maggots. These creatures are dirty red or brown, with
black heads; they are soft, and grow very fat, and when full grown are
half an inch long. They spin the leaves together at the top of the
tender young flowering shoots, often bending the top down; and not only
eat the leaves in the midst of this filthy fortress, but eat their way
into the buds and destroy them.

Other Tortrix Moths have green and yellow-green maggots. The worst is
the Green Rose Maggot--bluish-green with a black head. It also spins the
leaves together, and grows nearly as large as the brown. It is extremely
active, and very soft and slimy.

These all turn to pupae among the leaves instead of in the soil; and any
left in the foliage must be picked out and burnt. If we wait until the
shoots and buds are eaten and the foliage spoilt--nay, till often the
whole of our early flowers are ruined--the only remedy is to pinch the
leaves which conceal the maggot, if we have courage to do so, or to
hand-pick every one we see. But happily a way exists of preventing these
loathsome pests from destroying our roses. And this is to spray the
plants from the middle of April to early in May with _arsenate of
lead_.[9] This should be done twice, and will prevent many other
caterpillars from feeding on the foliage.

=The Vapourer Moth=, the little golden brown moth with a tiny white
crescent on each wing, is unfortunately common everywhere, in town as
well as country; and its caterpillars are as destructive as they are
beautiful. These caterpillars are found in great masses upon the
hawthorn and fruit trees, and attack the rose as well. They are
handsome, hairy creatures, spotted thickly with bright pink-red
tubercles, with four erect tufts of yellow hairs on the back, and five
longer tufts of darker hairs, two pointing forwards, one backwards over
the tail, and two at the sides.

If there are too many to be hand-picked the bushes must be sprayed with
_arsenate of lead_.

=The Buff Tip Moth= does most harm in the autumn, when its caterpillars,
yellow