222 



Bulletin 176. 



Ill 1806, Peters reported uo success with washes of sulphiiric 

 acid, t^lrpent^ne, hriiiei, urinous applications and nitrous mi'xtures 

 and thev have been scarcely mentioned since, 



Asafetida and aloes wash. — Tliis was used against the apple-tree 

 borer by Wielaiidy in 1870 (American Entomologist, II, 147), and 

 it seemed to us to afford a good test of the effect of odors and bit- 

 terness on the peach-tree borer. -We used ^ pound of each of the 

 substances in 2 quarts of water, heating it to dissolve them. The 

 wash was visible on the trees for a month and a half but retained 

 its odor for a nmch shorter time. The following table gives our 

 results from the use of this wash : 



1894-1895. 



June 12, 1895. 

 July IG, 1895. 



4l J" 

 ^\ Ju 



14 



1895-1896. 



June 6, 1896 . . ) 

 lie 14, 1896 . . \ 



8(57^) 



None. 



Years. 



Untreated or check trees. 



1894-1895. 

 1895-1896. 



128 



128 



Same dates . . 



60(47^) 

 68 (.'.3 ^) 



128 

 176 



The lirst year the application was too early and it had no effect on 

 the numbers of the borers. The second year the wash was applied 

 twice, and the results were considerably better, although a larger 

 percentage of trees were infested. The results offer no encourage- 

 ment to use such a wash. 



Tallow. — Finding that axle grease had been recommended for 

 the apple-tree borer, it occurred to us that tallow, melted and applied 

 as a wash, might prove effective against the peach-tree borer. As 

 the tallow formed a complete and very greasy coating, and remained 

 so for several months, we expected good results from it. The fol- 

 lowing table shows the resuhs we got ; 



