CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



the two forms of attack much loss may accrue to the orchardist. 

 Destruction of the larvae in their winter burrows overcomes all dam- 

 age from these pests. This can be accomplished by spraying with 

 the lime-sulphur compound in the late winter or very early spring 

 when the buds are expanding. 



The Common Borer. An insect which has done yast injury in 

 this State is the "flat-headed apple borer" (chrysobothris femorata). 

 It affects chiefly apples, peaches and plums, etc., which have been 

 injured by sunburn. It is a pale-colored grub with a brown head, 

 the forepart of the body being greatly flattened. The matured 

 beetle is greenish black or bronze colored, copper colored on the 

 under side. If any tree receives any damage to the bark, either by 

 sunburn or other causes, the borer is sure to find it, and it works 

 itself into the tree, its castings being the only guide to its presence. 

 The best remedy is prevention by protection from sunburn, as de- 

 scribed in Chapter XL 



In the summer and fall look for discolored places on the bark 

 where the whitewash may not have reached, cut in and kill the grub 

 with a knife, or, if you find a hole, push a wire to the end of it. This 

 examination must include the bark below the loose ground surface, 

 for younger trees are sometimes girdled at that point. Whenever a 

 borer is removed, the debris and dead wood should be entirely 

 cleaned out and the smooth surface left, taking care to preserve the 

 bark as much as possibly. Then the wound should be smeared over 

 with grafting wax, and a rag tied about it. In this manner young 

 trees have been saved, but if seriously attacked, it is better to put in 

 a sound tree and protect it. 



Sun-Scald Borer. Another borer which delights in sunburned 

 trees is a minute beetle, making a burrow hardly larger than a pin- 

 hole. It is known as the sun-scald beetle (Xyloborus xylographus). 

 The remedy, as in the former case, is to prevent injury to the bark, 

 for this precedes the attack of the beetle. 



The Olive Twig-Borer. A reddish brown beetle boring into 

 twigs of olive and other orchard trees, and grape canes, at the axils 

 of the leaves. It is Polycaon confertus, and it breeds in decaying logs 

 and stumps and old grape-vines, apparently visiting the fruit trees 

 merely to gratify its appetite. Its work is not fatal to the tree, but 

 unless proper pruning and attention be afterwards given, it may spoil 

 the shape of the young tree. Remove the affected branches below 

 the burrows of the beetle, or if it would be difficult to replace a 

 branch, see that the beetle is destroyed and the entrance to the hole 

 stopped up this to prevent decay and a weak branch following. 

 Spraying with ill-smelling solutions may prevent their attack, but 

 the insect has not been sufficiently abundant to invite serious effort 

 thus far. 



Peach Crown-Borer. A grub boring into peach trees just below 

 the ground surface, its presence being shown by copious gumming. 

 Cut out the grubs thoroughly in the fall and winter. After digging 

 out all that can be found a band six inches wide of "asphaltum D" 



