I 



DISEASES AND INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FRUIT. 559 



as recommended. Stone fruits are liable to become gummed, 

 vvhicli is a troublesome and destructive complaint. "When any 

 large limbs are pruned from these trees the wound should be 

 covered with shellac. In the cherry it is often the result of 

 tight bark, and a longitudinal cut in the smooth bark will 

 remedy it. All the diseased parts should be scraped off and 

 the place covered with shellac. The Yellows in the Peach 

 is usually the result of neglect in cultivation. Trees affected 

 with it should be immediately destroyed, and the balance ma- 

 nured and cultivated. 



Nearly all other diseases of fruit trees are caused by insects, 

 the study of whose characters and habits is one of the most 

 interesting in which we have ever engaged. The limits of this 

 book will only allow us to describe those most destructive, and 

 give plain practical directions for their destruction. "Wado not 

 give the hard scientific names, which, though of utmost import- 

 ance to the naturalist, only confuse the practical farmer. 



The Borer is common to most varieties of fruit. The eggs 

 from which they are hatched are laid by a moth or beetle,* in 

 the tender bark just above the surface of the ground, commen- 

 cing about the last of June. The eggs speedily hatch, and the 

 worm remains for a long time just under the surface of the 

 bark, and then eats its way through ana through the wood. 

 The remedies are three in number, and should a^T he used, if 

 complete success is desired. It is of the utmost consequence to 

 destroy as many as possible of the original insect that lays the 

 egg. This is done by building fires in the orchard in the early 

 evenings in June. These insects, as also the caterpillar, moth, 

 and many others injurious to vegetation, fly abroad at this time, 



* The apple tree borer by a striped beetle and the peach borer by a 

 wasp-like moth. 



