+ 
by the moths, young larvee have no difficulty in crawhng down from 
higher situations and gaining the usual position about the ‘base of 
the tree. 
To overcome the weak features of the wire screen netting, Prof. J. 
M. Stedman, of the Missouri experiment station, has employed 
band of thin boards, which are securely wrapped and tied about the 
trees, the upper exposed end being stuffed with cotton about the 
trunk to prevent the larve from penetrating within the screened por- 
tion. This, in Professor Stedman’s hands, has given excellent results, 
but in the hands of Mr. Slingerland the results were no better than 
with the wire screen. 
Tying.rye or other straw about the trunks has often been recom- 
mended and emploved. It also has the objection of not affording 
very perfect protection on account of the possibility of the larve 
penetrating through straw and getting to the base of the trunk. 
Another order of preventive applications are limy coatings to the 
bark, poisoned or otherwise, all of these applications extending from 
a few inches below the surface of the ground to a height of a foot or 
18 inches, or, in the case of these lime coatings, even up to the lower 
branches. Some of these lime applications have had substances- 
added to them to make them obnoxious to the moths, as, for instance, 
rarbolic acid. Perhaps the best of these is the wash recommended by 
Mr. J. H. Hale. Two quarts of strong soap and a half a pint of 
crude earbolic acid, with 2 ounces of Paris green, are thoroughly in- 
corporated in a bucketful of water and enough lime and clay added 
to make a thin paste. This application, in the hands of its origina- 
tor and others, has given very good satisfaction, two applications, 
however, being sometimes necessary to get the best results. As will 
be orc it contains a small amount of Paris green. The applica- 
tion of a reasonable amount of this poison to the trunk in combina- 
tion with the lime is attended with no risk to healthy plants. Other 
mixtures containing arsenicals which have a glue or a paint base 
have proven injurious to the trees, and no strong arsenical applica- 
tion should be made to the trunk of the peach tree. The difficulty 
with the lime applications is that they are rather unstable in a cli- 
mate where rainfalls are comparatively frequent and abundant; and, 
furthermore, if put on as a very thick wash, they are apt to crack 
and leave openings for the larv 
Gas tar was early recommended as a means of preventing damage 
by the peach-tree borer. The experience with it has been of a very 
contradictory nature, however. It has been very successfully em- 
ploved for a number of years by Mr. Slingerland, who gives it his 
unqualified endorsement as perhaps the best method of preventing 
damage by this insect. On the other hand, as noted, gas tar has 
been used by other experimenters with disastrous results to the life 
[Cir. 54] 
