THE PEACH BUD MITE. 109 
scarcity of such insects in injured blocks in the territory under con- 
sideration does not warrant their association with the trouble. 
During the growing season the mites are to be found here and there 
on the plants behind the buds, or in: cavities and places offering 
protection, and one or more may usually be found at the injured tip 
under an adjacent bud or more or less covered by the mass of exuded 
gum. Injury consists in the puncturing of the tender shoot near the 
tip, which soon wilts, falls over, and turns brown and dry. 
At the injured point gum soon exudes, and the cessation of further _ 
growth of the shoot results in its swelling out and in a notable in- 
crease in the size of the adjacent leaves, which assume a deep glossy 
green color. Lateral shoots soon push out, the number and position 
varying widely, resulting in a crooked or bushy topped tree of but 
little market value. As stated by one nurseryman, many of the 
_ Inserted buds which set normally, and were noted to be green and in 
healthy condition during the fall, winter, and spring, died before 
starting, or the shoot put out and died soon afterwards. The writer 
has observed a good deal of this kind of injury, especially where the 
work of the mites on the trees was later most in evidence, and this 
injury to the dormant bud may also result from the mites. 
The characteristic injury some ten days or two weeks old is shown 
in Plate XII, somewhat enlarged. It will be noted that the point of 
injury is adjacent in each case to a leaf, where the mite probably 
sought protection. The tips of the shoot above the point injured had 
fallen over and were brown and dry, and in two of the examples the 
accompanying exudation of gum may be detected. 
Some weeks later the injured shoots have the appearance shown 
in Plate XIII, about twice enlarged. The stem has filled out and there 
is a considerable mass of blackened gum and dirt on the tip of the 
injured stem. In the example on the right, a strong lateral shoot has 
developed. The large, congested leaves are also shown. 
On Plates XIV and XV is shown the appearance, in the fall, of 
trees injured by the mite. As will be seen, the plants, except in one 
instance, were cut off just below the bud. Most of the specimens 
show two distinct attacks by the mite, with consequent formation 
of lateral branches. 
As before mentioned, the peach bud mite, in the opinion of one 
nurseryman—and a careful observer—is responsible for the killing 
of the bud inserted in the seedling, as it is starting growth in the 
spring, or after the shoot has pushed out. Plate XVI shows, con- 
siderably enlarged, buds injured in this supposed manner. 
In some cases the attack of the mite does not cause the death of 
the shoot, which continues to grow, but at. the injured place there 
develops a characteristic rusty scar of variable size and shape, which 
in vigorous growing trees may become a long, rusty streak, extending 
