Insect and Disease Control 225 



little serious harm should result therefrom. If the channels 

 or burrows are fairly straight, many of the borers can be 

 reached with a pliable wire without cutting to the point 

 where they may happen to be located. The space about 

 the tree from which the soil was removed should be refilled 

 after the fall "worming," otherwise it is likely to fill with 

 water and injure, or perhaps kill, the tree; or, the crown 

 may be injured by exposure to low temperatures. After 

 the spring worming, it is wise to mound up the soil about 

 the trees to a height of 6 or 8 inches. 



S. H. Fulton, West Virginia, finds that the peach-borer can 

 be controlled fairly well by applying to the crown of the 

 tree in the autumn a miscible oil in the proportion of 

 1 part oil to 4 parts water and in the spring at a strength of 

 1 to 8. To do this he removes the soil from about the 

 base of the tree as when resorting to the '* digging-out " 

 method and in other respects he proceeds as with that 

 method, except that the applications of oil take the place 

 of the digging in the tree otherwise necessary. While this 

 method has not been widely used it appears to be rather 

 promising. 



Lesser peach-tree borer (SynantJiedon pictepes) 



This insect has been reported from time to time for many 

 years as working on plum and cherry trees. It is only 

 within the past few years that its full life history has been 

 known. The name "lesser peach-tree borer" was appar- 

 ently first used by Quaintance in 1905,^ when its economic 

 importance as a menace to peach trees was pointed out. 

 While showing a preference for peaches, it has many other 



hosts. 



1 U. S. Dept. of Agr. Yearbook, 1905, p. 335. 



