36 FRUIT-GARDENING. 



THE BARK-LOUSE. 



The bark-louse is another pernicious insect. They resemble 

 blisters, and are so near the color of the bark as to be imper 

 ceptible. They often prove fatal to the Apple-tree, by pre 

 venting the circulation of the sap. These insects may be con 

 quered by washing the trees with soapsuds, tobacco- water, 

 lime-water, or a wash may be made of soapy water, salt, and 

 lime, thickened to the consistency of cream or paint, with 

 sifted sand or clay, which may be applied with a brush to the 

 trunk and limbs of the trees in May or early in June, and the 

 cracks in the bark should be completely covered. 



THE APPLE-TREE BORER. 



The Apple-tree borer is said to deposit its eggs beneath the 

 surface of the soil, and the worms are often to be found in the 

 spring of the year by digging round the tree and clearing 

 away the earth to the roots, and may be taken out with a 

 knife or gouge, and destroyed. After the worms are removed 

 the wounds should be covered over with grafting-clay and 

 wood-ashes mixed, and the earth then returned to the roots of 

 the tree. Some use bricklayers mortar early in the spring 

 around the base of the tree, so as to cover the part where the 

 deposit is made, and prevent their attacks. 



There is no effectual way of preventing the borer working in 

 trees, to a certain extent. But, by examining the trees every 

 week, the borers may be cut out before they have entered the 

 wood beyond the reach of a penknife. Young trees that are 

 only a few years old are far more liable to be destroyed by the 

 borer than old trees having a thick, hard, and tough bark. 

 Borers like a tender bark to work in. 



