378 Bulletin 74. 



to be found in late September, when I examined the trees. In 

 the apricots the beetles were abundant at this time. But if the 

 insects themselves were not to be found in the peach, the injury- 

 was nevertheless serious, for the bark about older punctures was 

 found to be dead in circular patches an inch or two in diameter. 



This pestiferous insect is native to Europe. It was first 

 detected in this country at Elmira, N. Y., in 1877 upon peach 

 trees. It is now widely distributed in eastern America. 



There are no specific remedies for this insect. Its life history 

 is not well understood. It is commonly supposed, at least in 

 Europe, that it generally attacks the stunted or least vigorous 

 trees, and that good cultivation and fertilizing are the best general 

 preventives of its injuries. It is said that the more thrifty trees 

 pour out so much sap where punctured, that the young cannot 

 develop. This may have been the case with the peach trees of 

 which I have spoken, but the injury to the tree, as I have said, 

 was nevertheless severe. In some cases, at least, which have 

 come under my observation, the trees seemed to have come into 

 their weak condition wholly through the injuries inflicted by this 

 borer. The eggs are laid in the fall and the beetles probably die 

 thereafter. The new beetle emerges from the tree early in spring 

 and reenters very shortly thereafter. If more than one brood 

 occurs in the season it is not positively known. Forbes has sug- 

 gested that some adhesive poison spray or wash, applied to the 

 trunk and limbs, may les.cen the attacks. All seriously diseased 

 trees and branches should certainly be burned. In Europe, the 

 insect is not generally considered to be very serious. It is proba- 

 bly held in check by parasites. Already one and possibly two 

 parasites have been discovered upon it in this country.* 



The curculio scarcely needs description. Its presence is every- 

 where known to be inimical to peach culture, and yet probably 

 two-thirds of the peach orchards of western New York are un- 

 molested breeding grounds of the insect. The beetle begins its 

 work of egg-laying about as soon as the petals fall from the peach 

 flowers, raising up the familiar crescent flap on the young fruit, 

 under which an ^%% is snugly tucked away. The fruits which 



*For fuller accounts, see Lintner, N. Y. Rep. iv. 103-107; Forbes, Bull. 

 15, 111. Exp. Sta., and 17th Rep. State Entomologist of 111. (with plate). 



