250 [ DlSKASES OF THE PlAR T*EE 



by a persevering attention on the part of the cultivator, 

 and the treatment can be carried on the following lines : 



a). Collect and destroy the mature beetles before 

 they have the chance to lay eggs. These insects do not 

 fly readily, except towards midday, and usually attempt 

 to hide themselves by crawling round the stem on the 

 approach of a visitor ; but they are easily detected from 

 a distance on account of their black colour. They may 

 be picked by hand and crushed against the stem, or may 

 be picked up by a secateur and cut in two. They 

 commence to come out of their burrows towards the 

 close of March and are most common in April, but are 

 still found here and there until June or later. The best 

 time to look for them is early in the morning or just 

 before sunset, and should be hunted for every day. 



b). Paint the stem with tar or with arsenical 

 mixture commencing from about 10 c.m below the 

 surface of the ground to the first or second tier of 

 branches. The tar or the mixture should be applied 

 thickly so as to fill up all crevices .of the bark. The 

 arsenical mixture is prepared by mixing 25 parts of fresh 

 lime (by weight) with 25 parts of wood ashes, and adding 

 i part of arseniate of copper (Vienna green or Schcele's 

 green) adding enough water to obtain the consistence of 

 a thick wash. This treatment should be done in March. 



c). By means of a bit of copper wire hooked at the 

 end try to reach the larva at the bottom of its tunnel. 

 If the tunnel is too tortuous and the insect cannot be 

 reached, pour down into the tunnel a tea-spoonful of lysol, 

 or hypnol, or solutol or other powerful insecticide, or if 

 there is no such preparation at hand make use of 

 petroleum. 



Rhynchites betuleti Fb. is a small beetle which rolls 

 up the foliage in the form of a cigar, hence called 

 sigarajo by the Italian growers, and Phyllopertha horticola 

 Kby., is also accused of eating the foliage of the pear 

 and apple as well as of the cabbage tribe. Oxythyrea 



