INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 523 



trunk of the tree by a layer of cotton 

 batting under it at the upper end. 

 Various washes have been used to 

 repel the beetles. Thick whale-oil 

 or caustic soft-soap to which a pint 

 of crude carbolic acid is added to 

 every 10 gallons is often used and 

 should be painted over the trunk so 

 as to form a thick coating. Others 

 recommend a thick coating of white- 

 wash to which a little Portland 

 cement is added to make it more 

 adhesive. These should be applied 

 by the middle of May and as often 

 as need be to keep the trunk covered 

 until late summer. Asphaltum, 

 melted and painted onto the trunks, 

 gives better results than any of the 

 other materials of this nature, accord- 

 ing to results secured in West Vir- 

 ginia, but none of the treatments 

 seems to be entirely satisfactory. 

 If the trees are gone over every 

 fall and spring, the egg scars and 

 burrows of the young larvae may be 

 detected and these may be cut out 

 while still in the sap-wood, without 

 much injury to the tree. When the 

 borers get into the heart-wood it is 

 almost impossible to dig them out 

 without doing more injury to the tree, 

 but they may sometimes be destroyed 

 by injecting carbon bisulfide into the 

 burrows and plugging the aperture 

 with putty or clay. Where a tree 

 has been nearly or quite girdled, it 

 may sometimes be saved by bridge- 

 grafting. Orchards kept free of grass 

 and weeds and trees with smooth 



healthy bark are much less affected. Fro 452.- Young tree painted 

 -n , with asphaltum to keep out 



Brooks reports, also, that the beetles borers. Photo by W.E.Rumsey. 



