200 Bulletin 176. 



or wunii lodged in the tender bark ; and of course |)revents its ra\ - 

 ages tlie next season. I frequently plunge nursery stock into boil- 

 ing water, before planting. I lose very few, and do not attribute 

 the losses to the hot watei*. I have the trees bared at the roots, 

 exposed to the winter. I have lost some in this way, but still con- 

 tinue the practice." 



It will be seen from the above that a hundred years ago quite an 

 arsenal of insecticidal devices had been brought to bear upon the 

 peach-tree borer. And the methods most frequently recommended 

 to-day are the same or but slight modifications of these methods 

 wliich our great grandfathers devised and used. Furthermore, 

 although it is anticipating a little, it is a curious and interesting fact 

 that the results recorded by Mr. Peters in 1806 are not strikingly 

 unlike those we have recently obtained in our extensive experiments 

 against the pest. 



Cultural methods. — It is doubtful if any of the cultural methods 

 practiced by peach-growers exerts a great influence in keeping their 

 trees free from borers. 



In our extensive experiments, budded stocks and trees grown from 

 pits were used. Naturally there was no noticeable difference in the 

 number of borers attacking each, for the borers usually worked 

 below the inserted bud on the stock grown from the pit. However, 

 in the case of plum trees, it is stated by '' G. E. M." (1896) that in 

 his experience, Japan plum trees on Myrobolan or Marianna stocks 

 were as badly infested as peach, but when budded on Chickasaw or 

 other native varieties they were entirely exempt. Has anyone had 

 a similar experience with plums ? Apparently the insect does not 

 discriminate between the different varieties of peaches, attacking ail 

 with equal relish. 



In New Mexico and neighboring States, irrigation is an import- 

 ant factor in the growing of fruit, but Townsend (1892) reports that 

 the " peach-tree borer does not seem to be affected l)y irrigation, 

 even though the water be allowed to stand for a considerable time 

 and be given thorough access to the roots." 



Those peach-growers who thoroughly cultivate and feed their 

 orchards, scarcely allowing a weed to grow in them during the sum- 

 mer, still have to exercise external vigilance to keep the numbers of 



