80 



STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



PEACH BUD AND TWIG MOTH. 



The peach bud moth for the past few years has been the worst peach 

 tree enemy in many localities that we have had. The young caterpillar 

 hatches from the egg in the spring as the buds are swellingr, and it 

 immediately begins operations by boring down through the young bud 

 into the end of the tender twig which is soon eaten out so that it dies. 

 The little dark brown caterpillar then attacks 

 another bud in the same way, and before long half 

 the buds on the tips of the twigs are killed. The 

 caterpillars are reddish brown with black heads 

 and are less than half an inch long when full 

 grown. Thny continue to bore into the ends of 

 the twigs until the leaves are entirely out on 

 the trees, but the greatest injury is done when 

 the buds are young and tender. If the trees 

 are watched carefully, and as soon as the work 

 of the bud moth is seen, one of the arsenite 

 sprays is need, it will literally and figuratively 

 " nip the intruder in the bud." Ihe arsenites 

 should be used at the rate of perhaps one pound 

 to 250 gallons of water and should ntver be used uncombined. An 

 excellent plan would be to use with the Bordeaux when applying the 

 early spray for leaf curl, peach rot, shot-hole fungus, and other fungous 

 diseases of the peach. When the Bordeaux is not used, lime alone may 

 be substituted. 



PEAR TREE BORERS. 



The pear tree has quite a number of species that bore in its trunk and 

 limbs, but none of them are very abundant. The trunk is attacked by a 

 small Sessid borer [Sesia pyri), closely related to the peach tree borer. 

 The work of the two is alike in most respects and the remedy is the same. 



Peach Bud and Twig Moth. 

 a, moth; 6, caterpillar; c, 

 pupa. 



PEAR. BLIGHT BEETLE. 



Sometimes we find that the blight of the pear tree is caused by a com- 

 pany of little beetles, each of which is not more than an eighth of an inch 

 long and no larger than a pin head. The beetle lays its eggs at the base 



^ f of the bud, and when the egg hatches, the 

 "%\ young grub bores inside toward the pith. By 

 ^ y early July the grub has reached its growth, 

 transformed and appeared as a beetle. These 

 little dark brown, hard-shell beetles will attack 

 a sound, healthy tree as readily as a sickly 

 one. 



Generally, pear blight is caused by a^ bacte- 

 rial disease which is not the work of any insect. 

 When blight appears, the twigs should be 

 examined to see whether it is the work of the 

 disease or of an insect. If it is the work of 

 an insect, the bark will be perforated over the twigs with little worm holes. 

 If twigs are split lengthwise and no worm holes found in the inside wood, 

 one may be very sure that it is the disease and not the borer. The only 



Pkab Bliqht Beetle ; a, raale ; b, 

 female. 



