THE PEACH. 255 



culture. It was only necessary to plant a stone of any chance 

 seedling, and in the third or fourth year, in due season, with- 

 out farther trouble, the exquisite blushing peach would charm 

 the sight and be ready to drop into the hand or mouth of the 

 passer-by. The fine grafted varieties were equally a success, 

 and no blighting insect ever dared to tap the soft cheeked 

 fruit or pulpy root of the luxuriant peach. But in the course 

 of time this happy primitive condition of the tree became 

 sadly changed. The Yellows and the Borer were gradu- 

 ally troublesome and fatally prevalent. The cereal crops 

 w^ere allowed to steal away the legitimate and proper food 

 from the trees. Starvation was common, and the two dis- 

 tinctive enemies just mentioned rioted unmolested in our finest 

 orchards. Thanks, however, to the care and skill of modern 

 culture and the science of entomology, we can with ease over- 

 come both these great troubles, and the peach tree may re- 

 sume its natural luxuriance and vigor and attain its primeval 

 perfection. 



The Borer is a voracious intruder that we can manao;e 

 without difficulty. He does great mischief by girdling and 

 devouring the whole circle of bark just below the surface of 

 the ground, causing the tree to soon languish and die. The 

 symptoms are very similar to that of the Yellows ; but the 

 true condition can be readily known by examining the crow^n 

 of the root, where the castings and gum of his operations are 

 unmistakable evidence of his presence. 



This insect, in a jyerfect state, somewhat resembles a wasp. 

 It is a slender, dark blue, four- winged moth. The body of 

 the male and female is mostly of a steel-blue color. The 

 wings of the male are transparent, bordered and mixed with 

 the same blue color. The fore wings of the female are blue 

 and opaque — the hind wings similar to those of the male, 

 making considerable diff'erence in the appearance of the 

 sexes. During the Summer, the eggs, which are of a dingy 

 wiiite and scarcely perceptible, are laid on the tree at or near 

 the surface of the ground in little punctions covered with 

 greenish slime. In a few^ days, they hatch and become small 

 white borers or grubs; they are very tiny and slender at first 



