288 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



very aggressive, advantage is taken of this fact and almost complete immunity 

 obtained. 



AFFECTING THE TRUNK. 



The Round-headed Apple-tree Borer. {Saperda Candida.) 



A number of borers work in the apple trees, but the two most important ones 

 are the round-headed, and the flat-headed borers. The adult of the former is a 

 very pretty beetle, slender in form, the female being about three-fourths of an 

 inch in length, and the male a little smaller. The color is yellowish-brown, 

 marked by two silvery stripes running the entire length. The antennae or feelers 

 are long and slender. 



The egg is said to be laid in an incision cut in the bark of the trunk. The 

 larva bores in and works between the bark and the sapwood, making broad 



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U' 



Fig. 2. — Round headed Apple-tree Borer, from Riley, First Rep. State Entomologist of Mo. 



flattened chambers often rounded like a coin, and filling these chambers with 

 castings and frass. Usually some of the castings protrude from the openings 

 in the bark and thus betray the presence of the larva. Late in the season, the 

 borer goes down somewhat deeper to pass the winter. The second season is 

 said to be passed in the sap-wood. The tunnel of this species is round-oval in 

 section, quite different from the broad-oval tunnels made by the flat-headed borer. 

 Toward the end of the third season, the tunnel is extended into the hardwood 

 and a channel provided for emergence the following spring, at which time the 

 larva changes to a pupa, later changing to a winged beetle which gnaws through 

 the bark and comes forth. Three years are said to be passed in the larval 

 and pupal stages, the adult laying the eggs for another brood in June and early 

 July. This beetle works also in pear, quince, mountain ash and several shade- 

 trees. 



REMEDIES. 



In August and September, during the first year of its existence, the larva 

 usually betrays its existence by pushing out excrement through the holes in 

 the chambers low down in the trunk between the bark and sap-wood. The bark 

 also is often discolored. An examination of the bark near the crown in Septem- 

 ber, and a trial with a stiff pin will show whether the chambers are there or 

 not; if found, cut open and remove the larva. A wash of strong soft-soap and 

 sal-soda is recommended by Mr. Saunders; reduce to consistency of paint and 

 apply with a broom cut short so as to make a scrubbing brush. Apply about the 

 first of June on a warm day. This will not be entirely satisfactory but the 

 writer knows of nothing better. 



The Flat-headed Apple-tree Borer. {Chrysobothris femorata.) 



The commonest borer of the apple is the flat-headed borer. This pest probably 

 take but one year to complete its development. The beetle is elongated, flattened, 

 and in color greenish-brown. It averages little less than half an inch in length. 

 The larva is flattened and broadened at the thorax just behind the head, making 

 a wide oval tunnel necessary for the culture to progress. The work is done, 



