WHAT OTHERS SAV. 431 



tions of Professor S A. Forbes, as to the two principal methods of doing 

 this: 



1. Preventing the Laying of Eggs. — This is best accom- 

 plished by washing the trunk and larger branches of the tree two or 

 three times in summer with a strong solution of soft soap to which has 

 been added a little crude carbolic acid. The soil should be evenly 

 smoothed down about the base of the tree so that the mixture may reach 

 the lower portion of the trunk where the round-headed borer is so apt 

 to lay its eggs. Washing soda added to the soft soap until the whole is of 

 the consistency of thick paint is also thought to make an excellent wash 

 for repelling the beetles. In Central and Southern Illinois the first ap- 

 plication should be made about the middle of May, and succeeding ap- 

 plications at intervals of about three weeks. 



2. Destroying Eggs and Larv^. — This should be done in Au- 

 gust, September and October. By a careful examination of the trees 

 during this time the eggs and young larvae may be detected, and 

 by the judicious use of a knife they may easily be killed. If the ground 

 is smoothed off about the young trees early in the season, the insects in 

 the lower part of the trunk are more readily reached; or an excellent 

 way is to compel the beetles to lay their eggs where they can be easily 

 reached, by mounding the bases of the trees, either with sand, which is 

 best as it does not crack open and allow the beetle to deposit below the 

 surface, or with ordinary soil. According to Hon. J. W. Robison, for 

 many years a successful orchardist in Central Illinois, one man can usu- 

 ally examine and kill all borers in five hundred or more trees per day. — 

 Prairie Farmer. 



