1' A C I !■ I C; T R R F. /\ N D V I N I". 



J0' A. Serious Pest j0^ 



Tlie fruit f;rowerd of Santa Clara have 

 made up a purse of S1000,vvhicli is (jffered 

 as a reward to anyone who will invent or 

 discover an effective remedy for the 

 peach root borer, which has developed 

 into one of the worst pests with which 

 tlie prune and peach growers of the Santa 

 Clara valley have ever been afHicted. 

 The difliculty of fighting this pest lies in 

 the fact that its attacks are all under 

 ground and hidden from view. Often 

 the first intimation that the orchardist 

 has that the borer is present is the death 

 or wealiening of tlie tree which harbors 

 them. Being inside the wood as well as 

 under the ground, it is doubly difficult 



for over fifteen years in tliis State, and 

 for fifteen long years the grower has 

 fought it in every conceivable way. 

 Many different remedies have been used 

 and recommended, and still the pest is 

 as numerous as ever and attacking more 

 varieties of roots now than when first 

 recorded. 



As the larva or borer presents the most 

 vulnerable stage of the insect's life, the 

 most successful attack is made at this 

 stage. The methods for fighting it are 

 two-fold, viz.: preventive and destruc- 

 tive. In discussing these methods it 

 will be well for us to begin with the lat- 

 ter. The destructive methods used 



scraped free from all clinging materials, 

 such as gum and earth. With a knife or 

 chisel, or, still better, the regular tool, 

 composed of hook, scraper and chisel, 

 the search for the borer is made. First 

 find a channel and follow it up or down, 

 using the hook, and locate the borer. 

 Make a thorough search for every one 

 until you are satisfied that all borers are 

 out of the tree. Care should be exer- 

 cised not to take too much bark off— oidy 

 the neces.sary ijuantity to get the borers 

 out. The trees may be left open for a 

 few days, especially if moist weather pre- 

 vails, and then can be covered up until 

 spring, when some preventive may be 

 used, as shown later on. Some growers 

 have dug for borers twice a year, gener- 

 ally in May or June, with good results. 



o gifc at them even after they are Iviiown 

 to be present, and often, too, the des- 

 truction of the post almost, if not quite, 

 involves the destruction of the tree, as 

 they have to be dug out with a specially 

 made tool, and as there is sometimes a 

 large numlier in one tree, by the time 

 they are all dug out the tree is seriously 

 damaged. Bi-sulphide of carbon is some- 

 times used, but even with the greatest 

 care this is liable to kill the trees snd it 

 is therefore not as much in favor as the 

 digging out method. Mr. M. Khrhorn, 

 perhaps the best posted man on this |)ar- 

 ticular insect, in the State, having nuule 

 a special study of it for many years, gives 

 the following as the best methods of 

 fighting it: 



The peach-root borer has been known 



agaiusl tliubi'rtT ;u\- either tlie tedmus 

 way of digging ii out with a knife or 

 chisel or with an especially made instru- 

 ment, or by the use of strong washes ap- 

 lied to the trunk and roots below ground 

 or by the fumes of carbon bisulphide. 



In looking over the various remedies 

 which have been used since the insect 

 became known, I find the fo'lowing 

 which have given good results: 



The l>igging-out or Worming Method. 

 — The (ligging-out or worming method is 

 no doubt the surest way to know that 

 the borers are killed, provided that good 

 conscientious workers can be had. The 

 best time to do the work is in November 

 or December. The soil, which should be 

 moist enough to crumble, is removed 

 from around the tree and the bark 



^hailow'routed trees are attacked more 

 .severely than trees planted deep ; and 

 trees with root-knot are also favorite 

 places for the borer to thrive. 



Carbon Bisulphide. — To get the best 

 and quickest results fronj the carbon bi- 

 sulphide fumes, the soil surrounding the 

 tree should be as loose as possible. To 

 accomplish this, remove the soil from the 

 base of the tree. It should be from six 

 to eight inches from the hark to the edge 

 of the trench, and as deep as there are 

 indications of the borer; the gnnimy 

 masses and castings indicate the location 

 of the borer. Then this trench should 

 be filled up to the level with some mel- 

 low soil from the surface of the ground. 

 Now we are ready to put the carbon bi- 

 sulphide around the tree: from one and 



