194 ORCHARDS. 



of March, and became a beetle on the 15th of April : but was 

 doubtless forced into rapid development by being kept through- 

 out the Winter in a warm room. 



* 'Remedies. — From this brief sketch of our Round-headed 

 borer, it becomes apparent that plugging the hole to keep him 

 in, is in a par with locking the stable door to keep the horse 

 in after he is stolen; even supposing there were any philos- 

 ophy in the plugging system, which there is not. The round, 

 smooth holes are an infallible indication that the borer has 

 left, while the plugging up of any other holes or cracks where 

 the castings are seen, will not affect the intruder. This insect 

 probably had some natural enemies belonging to its own great 

 class, and some of our wood-peckers seek it out from its re- 

 treat and devour it ; but its enemies are certainly not suffi- 

 ciently under our control, and to grow healthy apple trees, we 

 have to fight it artificially. Here, again, prevention will be 

 be found better than cure, and a stitch in time will not only 

 save nine, but fully ninety-nine. 



^' Experiments have amply proved that alkaline washes are 

 repulsive to this insect, and that the female beetle will not lay 

 her eggs on trees protected by such washes. Keep the base 

 of every tree in the orchard free from weeds and trash, and 

 apply soap to them during the month of May, and they will 

 not likely be troubled with borers." (This is repulsive to 

 almost all insects, and greatly benefits the tree in other re- 

 spects.) "For this purpose soft soap or common bar soap can 

 be used. The last is, perhaps, the most convenient, and the 

 newer and softer it is the better. This borer confines himself 

 almost entirely to the butt of the tree, though very rarely it 

 may be found in the crotch. It is therefore only necessary, 

 in soaping, to rub over the lower part of the trunk and the 

 crotch; but it is a very good plan to lay a chunk of the soap 

 in the principal crotch, so that it may be washed down by the 

 rains. In case these precautions have been unheeded, and 

 the borer is already at work, many of them may be killed by 

 cutting through the bark at the upper end of their burrows, 

 and gradually pouring hot water into the cuts so that it will 

 soak through the' castings and penetrate to the insect. But 



