Peaches in Western New York. 379 



are first punctured are likely to drop, but the later ones hang 

 upon the tree and are known by the drops of gum which exude 

 from the punctures. If the egg hatches, the peaches become 

 wormy. It is presumed that the reader is acquainted with the 

 methods of catching the curculio ; but it may be said that the 

 operation consists in knocking the insects from the tree by a quick 

 jar or shake, catching them upon a white sheet or in a canvas 

 hopper. The ' ' catcher' ' most commonly used in western New 

 York (manufactured by J. B. Johnson, Geneva) is a strong cloth 

 hopper mounted upon a wheelbarrow-like frame, and running upon 

 two wheels. The hopper converges into a tin box, into which 

 the curculio roll as they fall upon the hopper. One man wheels 

 the devise, by barrow-like handles, under the tree, then drops the 

 handles and jars the tree ; or sometimes two men go with a ma- 

 chine, one wheeling it and the other jarring the trees. There 

 are other devises for catching the cucurlio, but this is the most 

 satisfactory one which I know. 



The black peach aphis is a very destructive insect which is 

 widely distributed in the eastern states, and which has been intro- 

 duced into Niagara County upon nursery stock.* This insect is 

 particularly malicious because, in the most destructive form, it 

 works upon the roots and is therefore out of sight and largely out 

 of reach. It occasionally feeds upon the herbage, and in that 

 case it can be dislodged by kerosene emulsion. Trees which are 

 suffering from the root aphis stop growing or become stunted, and 

 the foliage becomes yellowish. Affected trees may not grow for 

 several years even under good cultivation, and this condition may 

 pass for yellows. I do not know that this insect is yet widespread 

 in this state, but peach growers should be aware of its existence. 

 Introduced trees should be carefully examined for the aphis before 

 they are set, and if the insect is found, the roots should be dipped 

 in kerosene emulsion or tobacco decoction. If the insect becomes 

 established in the orchard, it can be killed, when upon the roots, 

 by digging in a strong dressing of tobacco dust. 



Fruit-rot and tivig-blight. — Of the fungous diseases of the peach, 

 one of the most serious in western New York is the twig-blight^ 

 and fruit-rot (due \.o Moniliafrtictigena). The rotting of the early 



* See Cornell Bull. 49, 1892. 



