140 | . ANNUAL REPORT. brie 
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little sick. We hope soon to be able to get along without them as our main 
dependence, and shall have no use for them when apples are cheap and 
bi for temperance is getting popular here and cider will not pay. fess 
all together the prospects are favorable. ; 
“ JOHN S. phe. 
General Fruit Committee, 1st District. 
DISCUSSION. 
Smoking. 
Mr, Elliot. Smoking a house should be done in cloudy weather, 
or at close of day, when the sun is not bright, and then the bad 
odor gets out before the next day. 
Mr. Jewell. Tobacco works like acharm. I have used it for 
the woolly aphis on trees extensively. 
Borers. 
Mr. Kenney. I would like to hear about the Apple Tree Borer. 
Mr. Elliot. In the mature condition it is a short-lived insect, 
Mr. Dart. Wash the trunks of the trees in the fore part of the 
season with lye or soap-suds. This keeps off beetles, and keeps 
the bark smooth, so that they can be seen if they make an attack. 
Mr. Pearce. They affect neglected trees. Take ashes, fill a 
pail quarter full, fill with water and scrub and wash the trunks 
with this, using a broom. Do not let the grass and weeds grow. 
I think that chickens keep trees free from borers. An Eastern 
writer recommends using a wash of aloes and water after the soap- 
suds. : 
Mr. Jewell. Ido not keep my orchard free from grass, and I 
never lost but one tree from borers. Another method is to make 
with tin a funnel around the trunk and fill this with strong soap- 
suds. This method drowns out the grubs in the trunk. 
Mr. Dart. I believe that the lye wash is good for the,tree in 
other ways besides destroying or preventing the borer. 
Mr. Brand. Ihave had some experience with borers. Much 
hickory appears to harbor them, and where there is no hickory 
they are rare. The borer full grown is a beetle, and it makes an 
incision from 4 to 13 inches in length in which it lays a number 
of eggs. By drawing a knife blade over these incisions you can 
hear ae eggs crack. They hatch in about ten days and begin to 
work, which you can see by the sap exuding. I believe they stay 
