THE ROUNDHEADED APPLE-TREE BORER. LS 
WORMING. 
Removing the borers from trees by the use of a knife and piece of 
wire, a practice commonly known as worming, is one of the oldest 
and, when thoroughly done, one of the most effective ways of dealing 
with this insect. In worming trees the operator should be equipped 
with a strong pocketknife, a piece of small wire, a vial of carbon 
bisulphid, a small quantity of cotton batting, and a garden trowel. 
(Fig. 17.) These articles may be carried very conveniently from tree 
to tree in a small basket. The knife should have a long, sharp blade 
and the wire should be bent to form a small hook at one end and a 
circle or ring at the other. Into the ring a scrap of white or 
brightly colored cloth 
should be tied as a safe- 
guard against losing the 
wire. The trowel is for 
use in scraping away 
from the base of the tree 
any earth or litter that 
interferes with a_ close 
search for castings of the 
borers. When castings 
are found the bark should 
be cut away sufficiently 
to allow the borer to be 
traced by its burrows and 
killed. If the cutting is 
done with care, and the 
borer secured, the wound 
will usually heal without = ric. 14. 
Adult roundheaded apple-tree borer just 
F sts erged fr -xit hole i ark. Natural size, 
noticeable injury to the emerged from exit hole in bark. Natural size 
; (Original,) 
tree. The natural healing 
tendency of the tree may be assisted by covering the wound with lead 
paint. 
During the first few months of its life the borer is easily found and 
destroyed, but after it has been feeding a year or more the difficulty 
of locating it is increased, since at that time its burrows extend more 
deeply into the tree. However, with a little practice one becomes 
rather adept at securing the borer regardless of its age or the posi- 
tion it may occupy in the wood. 
As the borers engage in burrowing in the tree they keep a clear 
space behind them, and up to the time the pupal cell is being con- 
structed there is usually nothing to prevent inserting the wire into 
the exposed end of the burrow and hooking them out. While the 
