3.2 



orchard that is neglected, as the adult insect is not inclined 

 to tly far. 



All parts of the apple tree are subject to the attacks of" 

 insects and the Apple tree borer expends its energy on the 

 trunk near the roots. It appears during the summer months 

 and lays its eggs singly on the bark near the ground. The 

 young bore into the tree and dig out cavities about the form 

 and size of a silver dollar just under the bark. The bark 

 over these cavities is apt to shrink and crack and let the 

 sawdust fall out. At this time the borers can be located to 

 good advantage and be cut out with a knife or pointed wire. 

 The following spring the borer will work inward, into the- 

 root or into the trunk, and in the following fall will work 

 out to the trunk, preparing the way for its escape the follow- 

 ing year. 



It spends its second winter in the tree in the pupa stage 

 and in the spring the adult beetle comes out and escapes and 

 then another generation of eggs is laid. 



The question as to how important this insect is, may be 

 answered by examining two trees, one of which has been in- 

 fested by borers, and another from which the borers have 

 been kept. You can see the difference as shown by the pic- 

 ture (on the screen). 



^ It is important to watch for these insects and keep them 

 out of the trees, first getting out all that are in, and then 

 keeping others from getting in. To keep the borers out the 

 most effective remedy seems to be the use of wire mosquito 

 netting made in the form of a cone set into the ground and 

 running about two feet up. Care should be taken that the 

 wire cone does not touch the tree except at the top. As the 

 borer likes the bottom of the tree, it will not often go up- 

 higher than about two feet above the ground, and the netting 

 is an effective protection, and is also a protection from mice 

 and rabbits during the winter time. Care should be taken 

 that there be no breaks in the netting through which the 

 borers can crawd. This has proved a very successful device. 



Our fruit trees are infested by a large number of differ- 

 ent kinds of caterpillars. The treatment for these is to 

 spray a sufficient amount of stomach poison (generally ar- 

 senate of lead) upon the leaves that the caterpillar eats, and 

 the caterpillars Avill be destroyed. Where they feed in 

 groups hand picking is often more convenient than spray- 

 ing, but if for any reason this^ cannot be done, spray with 



