APPENDIX. 349 



ment of this insect an ounce of prevention is worthseveral pounds of cure. 

 Gutting the borers out, unless practiced with the greatest care, is apt to 

 result in injury, and it is far better to prevent the parent insects from 

 depositing- their eggs upon the tree. This is not difficult to accomplish, as 

 oviposition is practically confined to two months in a single locality, usually 

 during June and July. The best preventives are impenetrable substances 

 placed about the trunk, and various washes of a repellant nature. 



Gutting out by hand — Little has been gained in the line of direct remedies 

 for this borer until very recent years. The early writers had nothing better 

 to advise than cutting out the larva, either with a knife or gouge, or killing 

 them by the insertion of a wire into their burrows. These remedies were 

 in use early in the present century and are still the ones most of ten practiced. 

 It is no uncommon thing to find four or more larva^ in a single small trunk 

 and the cutting out of all of them, if not practiced with the greatest caution, 

 is apt to result in the girding of the tree, if, indeed, this has not already 

 been accomplished by the combined attack of the borers themselves. It 

 would seem superfluous to add that it is best to cut the borers out as soon as 

 detected. Their presence may be known by a little exijerience, some per- 

 sons, the writer is informed, being so expert in detecting their exact location 

 as to be able to kill them with a knife thrust or by the puncture of an awl or 

 other sharp instrument. The fruitgrower should institute a practice of 

 inspection that the borers may be removed as often as found. 



To assist the tree to recuperate after it has been girdled, a bridge or two 

 should be made by splitting a piece of apple twig ( say, an inch or two in 

 thickness), cutting it diagonally on the inside, and applying to the surface at 

 the base of the tree. It should then be tied on and grafting wax applied to 

 each end, after which a fertilizer, perfectly fresh cow manure, should be 

 applied and the whole banked over with earth. It is also well to keep the 

 tree watered for a few weeks after treatment whenever this is practicable 

 without too great inconvenience. 



Mechanical preventives — This is one of the borers that can readily be con- 

 trolled by different sorts of mechanical barriers placed about the base of the 

 tree. For this a few thicknesses of newspaper wrapped rather loosely about 

 the trunk and extending about two feet from the base are all that is neces- 

 sary. This covering should be tied, by preference with cord, which will 

 readily yield or break with the natural expansion of the tree in its growth, 

 and also be tightly fastened at the top or bottom and hilled up with earth so 

 of that the beetles can not obtain access to the tree from below. From the toj) 

 this covering upward it is best to use some deterrent alkaline or carbolated 

 wash. Instead of newspapers, wire gauze or mosquito netting may be used, and 

 should be put in place, so as to loosely encircle the tree, that the beetles 

 may be unable to successfully deposit their eggs between its meshes and 

 that the growth of the tree may not be hindered. Both have been success- 

 fully employed for a long period of years, and there is abundant testimony 

 to their value. If the netting or paper be put in place early in May, it will 

 not only prevent the beetles from ovipositing during the next two months 

 but will also keep the insects which might be present in the trunk from 

 issuing, and they will die in their burrows without being able to lay fertilized 



