134 



THE REPORT OF THE 



No. 19 



corn late into the rotation. He recommends a short rotation in which rye 

 is sown on the broken-.up sod, then seeding to clover the following spring, 

 followed by the small grains, and this followed ag'ain by com or potatoes. 

 If such a method, or a similar one, be adopted in gardens, very few com- 

 plaints would be heard regarding attacks of white grubs. When white grubs 

 are known to infest lawns, kerosene emulsion may be applied with advant- 

 age, if followed by copious watering. 



Fruit Insects. 



The Peach-Tree Borer, (Sanninoidea exitiosa Say (Fig. 73) is quite 

 prevalent in many of the Niagara peach orchards, as the brown gummy 

 masses about the bases of the trees testify. These exudations are composed 

 of a mixture of earth, larval excrement, and borings, and sometimes they 

 extend entirely around the tree. The borer is the grub-like caterpillar of a 

 beautiful moth, and works in the inner bark of the lower trunk or a large 

 root, excavating a tunnel. 



The life-history is not yet well enough known to the peach growers. The 

 moths appear from July to September, and the females deposit their eggs on 



Fig. 73. Peach-tree Borer ; 1, female 

 inoth ; 2 male moth. 



Fig. 74. Datana Dioth. 



the bark of the trunk near the ground soon after their emergence. The 

 larva hatches in si week or so and begins to bore into the trunk, feeding and 

 forming its burrow until winter sets in, when it hibernates. In May the 

 larva begins again to feed, and reaches full size in June or early July. It 

 leaves its burrow then, and forms a dirty brown cocoon at the base of the 

 tree. As a pupa within this cocoon, it remains about three or four weeks, 

 when the moth emerges. 



The old-fashioned method of "digging out" or "worming" the borer is 

 perhaps the best that has been devised. The best time to do this work is 

 in spring and fall, and it must be thoroughly done on all the trees. 



The practice of "mounding" the trees in early summer is frequently 

 recommended, as it compels the deposition of the eggs some distance above 

 the ground, and the chances are that the birds and predaceous insects devour 

 the young larva before it has a chance to bore into the trunk. 



Wrapping the trunk with tarred paper in July and washing the trunk 

 twice with a thick wash composed of "two quarts of strong soap, a half pint 

 of crude carbolic acid in a pail of water with enough of lime and clay to 

 make a thin paste," are methods often used by fruit-growers with consid- 

 erable success. These methods will give best results if they are, made auxil- 

 iary to the worming process. 



The San Jose Scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus Comst), has extended its 

 area considerably during the year, not only in the Niagara district but also 

 in the south western part comprising the counties of Kent and Essex. In 

 the latter region little or nothing is being done by the owners of the trees to 

 control the scale, so that its spread has been very rapid. 



