March, 1922 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page Thirteen 



Death to Peach Borers 



VERY satisfactory success in treating 

 peach trees for peach tree borer with 

 paradichlorobensene — call it PC benzine, 

 for short — has been reported at the Penn- 

 sylvania State College by Professor E. H. 

 Hodgkiss. Experiments there seerried to 

 indicate that this substance had possibly 

 better not be used on apple trees. It is 

 safe, however, for plums and prunes, should 

 these be attacked by the borers. The sub- 

 stance of a report on the paradichloroben- 

 sene treatment experiments directed by 

 Professor Hodgkiss is here given; 



The peach tree borer is, in this state, 

 a single-brooded insect. The eggs may be 

 deposited anywhere on the leaves, limbs, or 

 bark, to the number of 200 to 600, with 

 an average of about 300. The larvae or 

 "worms" hatch in ten days and crawl down 

 the trunk and soon commence to gnaw their 

 way into the bark, especially near the 

 ground. The moth or mature insect is a 

 day-flyer, resembling a wasp. 



The PC benzine is a crystalline sub- 

 stance, which is readily volatile with fumes 

 or gas which sinks down through the earth 

 and find the borers beneath and kills them, 

 if applied properly. It is not poisonous to 

 man if not eaten or taken internally. 



To apply the PC benzine, level the 

 ground around the tree, remove the gum, 

 and sprinkle the small crystals on the damp 

 earth in a ring around the tree two inches 

 from the trunk. Then throw a shovelful 

 of earth against the trunk and let it fall 

 back over the crystals, and follow this by 

 mounding earth around the trunk from 

 three to six inches high, and firm it by 

 patting with the shovel. 



The proper amount is three-fourths of 

 an ounce on trees 6 years of age and older, 

 and one-half ounce on trees from 3 to 6 

 years of age. Do not use it on trees less 

 than 3 years of age, because of the danger 

 of killing young trees. On trees 2 to 3 

 years of age tests were made to discover if 

 short exposures could be made with safety 

 to the trees. Examination of the older 

 trees after a period of 14 days showed that 

 the borers were practically all dead. 



Experiments were made in regard to the 

 distance from the trees. Some of the 

 material was placed at a distance of two 

 inches, and some at one inch from the 

 trunk, with no difference in results; but the 

 New Jersey State Experiment Station has 

 shown that when placed at a distance of 

 four inches or more, it is ineffective. 

 After a priod of four to six weeks it should 

 be removed, if any is left. On damp soil 

 it volatizes more rapidly than on dry, and 

 on clay soil not so rapidly as on sandy or 

 even as on shaly or other loose soil. 



The cost of treatment is 3}^ at Syi cents 

 per tree, including material and labor. The 

 date of treatment should be in northern 

 states, September 10 to 30th, but in the 

 South it can be as late as the middle of 

 October. No experiments have been made 



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in early spring applications. It is well 

 to try it in the spring when the soil tem- 

 perature has reached 50 to 55 degrees. 



The materia! "appears to be rather 

 injurious to apple trees," according to tests, 

 and it is thought that it can be used safely 

 on plum, but the tests are insufficient to 

 form a basis for positive statements. No 

 injuries by the material have yet been 



been observed on cherry and quince trees. 

 Peach and other trees, 1, 2, and 3 years of 

 age, are too young to be treated, as it injures 

 them. 



Two points are emph.isized: It is safest 

 to keep the material two inches from the 

 trunk of the tree, and the mounds should 

 be removed the next spring. 



