REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 213 



With a view of bringing out further information as to the prevalence of this 

 pest, and also to put on record what has been done towards finding a remedy and com- 

 pleting its life history, I submit herewith the following correspondence : — 



" Queenston, Ont., March 22, 1893. — That small beetle borer which I gave you at 

 the St. David's meeting has been seriously affecting my peach trees. I send you a few 

 more. Will you please tell me about its habits and how to combat it ? I wish to 

 be positive as to the non-injury of the peach tree before using any wash. Some of my 

 neighbours claim that they have nearly destroyed some of their peach trees by applying 

 an alkali wash. " — C. E. Fisher. 



" Queenston, May 22, 1893. — I send you a piece of bark of a peach tree from my 

 orchard, which is full of the little black beetles that we looked for last winter. The 

 bark of this tree is all like the piece I send, and around the collar of the tree there is 

 not le«s than a gallon of gum that has run out from the wounds made by this borer. 

 Young trees do not seem to be attacked as much as older ones. " — Capt. James Shep- 

 pard. 



A remarkable feature of the attacks of this minute beetle upon the peach trees, is 

 the large quantity of gum which oozes from the infested trees and falls to the ground. 

 Upon wet days this swells up and lies in masses of jelly around the foot of the tree. I 

 saw in several instances two or three quarts given off by a single tree. This must be a 

 great injury to the trees and accounts for the short time in which healthy, vigorous 

 trees are killed. The statement that only unhealthy trees are attacked is undoubtedly 

 wrong. Mr. Fisher and I noticed in his orchard healthy young two, three and four- 

 year old trees which the beetles had just begun to attack. 



" Queenston, March 2. — With this I send box containing bark from peach tree 

 which I had treated with strong lime and Kerosene emulsion wash twice during last 

 season at intervals of about four weeks, for the Peach Bark-borer. I also send you in 

 the box a small package of bark from a large English cherry tree about seven inches in 

 diameter, which stands several hundreds of yards from my peach orchard and quite 

 isolated f rom any elm or peach trees. The peach bark beetles have been at work in 

 this tree, although they are not nearly so numerous as in the large peach trees. My 

 reason for thinking that the lime and emulsion wash was not very successful was from 

 the fact that, after it had been washed off by the weather, I saw fresh evidences of the 

 borers' work in these trees, the fine chewed or ground bark standing out around the 

 small holes made by the insects. I shall, however, be better able to judge this season 

 as I have five or six trees specially selected to work with. I notice that the oldest 

 trees are the ones selected by the borer, as I find occasionally an old tree in the orchard 

 quite full of the little pest, though, where the insect first started his depredations, small 

 trees only about 2^ or 3 inches in diameter and about four years old, have them in ; but 

 they do not seem to be nearly so numerous as in the old trees which have rough sur- 

 faces and cracks, where I suppose the insect can more easily secure a lodgement. I 

 applied the wash first, I think, in June and then again in July, on a few others about 

 the first week in August. The bark you have, is from a tree which had the two washes 

 first mentioned. From examinations I have made, I am led to believe the borer does 

 not burrow into the solid wood. To prove this I will saw off a section of a tree and 

 mail it to you to-morrow, so you can prove positively whether or not it does. I shall 

 try your advised experiment — the Kerosene emulsion put on with a scrubbing brush — 

 though I have heard you could not injure a peach tree with scalding hot water. 



" I shall try, as you suggest, pure kerosene on one tree. I might try the hot water 

 on another and your emulsion on the balance of them. I believe this borer is getting 

 more numerous, and I hope you will be able to find a sure preventive remedy." — C. E. 

 Fisher. 



All the specimens of bark sent contained living beetles, and those in the cherry bark 

 were the true Peach Bark-borer, Careful examination of the sections of wood sent by 

 Mr. Fisher, as well as by Capt. Sheppard, some of which have been kept in closed jars 

 in my office for nearly a year and in which there are still living beetles, and also field 

 observations at Queenston, show that this beetle works entirely in the bark, where all 



