STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 49 



ily and completely destroyed in some other way — such as hand-picking, 

 crushing, etc. These include the eggs of the tent caterpillars, which are 

 found 300 to 400 cemented in a bunch, surrounding a twig ; eggs of the 

 tree hoppers, which are found in little slits immediately beneath the outer 

 bark; eggs of leaf-lice, minute, shining, black globules scattered upon 

 twigs of the last year's growth. 



2 c. — A General Cleaning of the Trees in Winter should be carefully at- 

 tended to. 



By picking off all cocoons, leaf-crumplers, basket or drop worms, 

 eggs of the Tassock moth found on sides of deserted cocoons, etc. (Old 

 trees, neglected heretofore in orchards, should have their trunks carefully 

 scraped of all rough bark; but if the following directions are followed, 

 there will be no scales of bark to scrape off.) The trunks and larger 

 branches of the trees should be washed at least once each year with soft 

 soap (thinned somewhatl, or a strong alkaline wash, between the middle 

 of May and middle of June (according to latitude), and if washed off 

 soon by heavy rains, should be renewed ; this renders them free of rough 

 scales of bark, which harbors many noxious insects and parasitic plants, 

 and is an effectual remedy against attacks of the flat-headed apple-tree 

 borer {C.femorata), which is very destructive in the middle and southern 

 portions of this State. In the northern portions of the State, the round- 

 headed apple-tree borer iSaperda bivitata) preys upon the tree near the 

 surface of the ground ; therefore, in April or May a small portion of the 

 soil should be removed from the collar of the tree, and this should be 

 filled in and mounded up a little with lime or ashes. This mounding up 

 prevents the beetle laying her eggs so low down on the trunk as that 

 access to the larvae would be difficult, (besides, the lime ashes and the 

 soap, as alkaline washes, are all obnoxious to her.) This beetle dejjosits 

 her eggs during the months of June, July and August, but mostly in June 

 and July, on the trunk of the trees near the ground — rarely in the 

 branches or under the surface. The trees should be carefully examined 

 for the borers during the last half of September, and if any are found 

 their burrows should be opened and the larvse (young borers) killed. If 

 they have penetrated deeply, they may be punched to death with a flexible 

 twig or wire. Their burrows may be readily found by the reddish-brown 

 castings thrust from them. (This is the most insidious foe of the apple 

 orchardist, in the north part of the State, and too much pains cannot be 

 taken in ridding the trees fronr them. 



The larvae of the flat-headed apple-tree borer may be found in the 

 trunk and at the base of the larger branches (and in or near any patches 

 of sun scald, wounds or abrasions, and near the base of dead limbs), by a 

 little discoloration of the bark; and by taking off a thin shaving of the 

 discolored bark, tlie larvae may be seen and destroyed. This work should 

 be done in the months of August and September. (If the larva has pene- 

 trated deep into the wood, it will often be found best not to cut it out, 

 as the wound made in doing so would be worse than the injury done by 



