80 STATE POM(>LU(;iCAL SOCIETY. 



THE APPLE TKKE BOREK. 



Saperda Candida , Fabr. 



Of this species of borer 1 have not much to say. In fact I don't 

 know as 1 ought to tiud any fault witli him as far as 1 am perHonally 

 concerned, lor he has never destroyed a tree for me. 



I have learned by observation and enquiry that this species of 

 the l)orer is much n>ore destructive to orchards on light soil, or soil 

 inclined to a sand}' loam, than those on ston^', rugged, loam land. 

 My orchard is on the latter kind of soil and that, perhaps, is the 

 reason this species of borer has not given me any trouble. 



If an} preventative I have used has protected ray trees it is the 

 application of ashes, for I have used no other. 



Each spring after there have been a few thawing days and a tunnel- 

 shaped hole thawed around the body of the trees I take the advan- 

 tage of the snow crust and with a basket of ashes in one hand and a 

 small scoop in the other I pass from tree to tree and throw a pint or 

 such a matter directly around the trunk. If there is snow around the 

 trunk, when it thaws the ashes follow down and more or less adhere 

 to the bark. P>iually as good a time to apply them is immediately 

 after the snow is gone and when the trunk of the tree is wet. The 

 ashes are visible on and around the trunk of the tree during tlie early 

 part of the season when it is supposed the beetle deposits her eggs, and 

 are particularly offensive to her. Ashes applied as above early in 

 spring are also quite a protection against depredations by mice. 



Another species of borer called the trunk borer is giving me 

 more trouble. The first ten years of my orchard experience I hardly 

 found a trunk borer, but t"be past five years I have had to wage war 

 upon them continually. Their presence is easily detected by a slight 

 discoloration and depression of the bark. 



Alkaline washes have been highly recommended as a means of 

 keeping away the beetle, but I have never practiced it. I carefully 

 examine the younger portions of my trees, in which they work the 

 most injury, once or twice during the summer and with a sharp knife 

 remove all the affected bark and wood, if an\', and apply a thin coat- 

 ing of grafting wax. 



Man}' trees look, after I have been over them with the knife, as I 

 imagine the rods of green poplar and hazel looked that Jacob piled, 

 white streaks in them, and set in the gutters in the watering-troughs 

 where Laban's flocks came to drink, but they will soon heal and come 



