ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 397 



has been exceedingly injurious all over 

 the country. 



Considering the fatality of its work and 

 the number of valuable fruit and shade 

 trees which it attacks, few insects are more 

 to be dreaded than this same Flat-headed 

 Apple-tree Borer. The Oak, Mountain 

 Ash, Linden, Box -elder, Beech, Plum, 

 Pear, Cherry and Peach alike succumb 

 to its attacks. We have reared the beetle 

 from Oak, Apple, Mountain Ash, Box- 

 elder, Peach and Pear, and found the 

 larva;, judged to be the same after critical 

 comparison, in the other trees mentioned. 

 While the Apple is so subject to its 

 injuries that no man who does not under- 

 stand this enemy and is not willing to 

 give some little time to mastering it, can 

 hope to succeed in growing apple trees ; 

 and in reality the time and money spent 

 in planting young apple orchards, 

 especially in the West, is generally wasted 

 for the want of the necessary precautions 

 against this insect. 



Remedies. — In treating of the means 

 to be employed against this Flat-headed 

 borer, one important fact should be borne 

 in mind. The natural breeding place of 

 the insect is undoubtedly in the old de- 

 caying oaks of our woods, and we have 

 know it to swarm in old post-oak stumps 

 from which the tops had been felled for a 

 number of years. In fact, it prefers par- 

 tially dead or injured trees to those which 

 are thrifty and vigorous, and partly for 

 this reason, and partly because rough, 

 cracked bark forms a better nidus for the 

 female to lay her eggs, the species is 

 more abundantly found on the south- 

 west side of young apple trees where 

 they are most apt to get injured by sun- 

 scald. Sickliness in the tree, injury from 

 the whiffletree or other cause, therefore, 

 predispose to its attacks. It is for this 

 reason that transplanted trees, checked as 

 they are in growth, usually fare badly. 

 But there is yet one other predisposing 

 cause which few people suspect, and that 

 is reckless and careless pruning, especially 

 of the larger branches. Many a fine 

 orchard tree, and many more city shade 

 trees receive their death shock from the 

 reckless sawing off of limbs without effort 

 being made to heal the wounds by coat- 

 ing with grafting wax, clay or other pro- 

 tecting substances. Around such an un- 

 protected sawed limb, as around the frus- 



tum of a felled tree, the rain and other 

 atmospheric influences soon begin their 

 work ot causing decay between the bark 

 and the solid wood ; and this is but the> 

 forerunner of greater injury by insects 

 which are attracted to the spot, and which,. 

 though hidden meanwhile from view, soon 

 carry the destruction from the injured to 

 the non-injured parts. Among the in- 

 sects thus attracted, Chrysobothris plays 

 no mean part, where, had the wounded 

 limb been properly protected, its presence 

 would never have been known. It thus 

 becomes of the first importance, in treat- 

 ing this insect, to keep the young trees 

 vigorous and healthy, and the bark as 

 smooth and as free from injury as possi- 

 ble. Thus in planting a young orchard 

 in this part of the country, where the sun 

 (whether indirectly or directly is for the 

 vegetable pathologist to determine) is apt 

 to injure the bark on the southwest side, 

 it will prove labor well spent to protect 

 them on that side by old paling or lath. 

 Young trees are far more liable to be 

 attacked than old ones, and consequently 

 require greater care. 



As a preventive against the insect's 

 attacks there is nothing better than coat- 

 ing the trunks and larger branches with 

 soap at least twice a year — once towards 

 the end of May and again in July or 

 August. The soap is not only obnoxious 

 to the beetle, but it tends to keep the bark 

 clean and smooth, so as to offer no at- 

 traction to the female, and is, withal,, 

 beneficial to the tree. 



But whatever preventive measures be- 

 taken, trees should be carefully examined 

 late in the Fall. At this season, or even 

 in the Winter time, the young borers 

 which have just commenced work, are' 

 easily detected and destroyed by a knife 

 before they have done much harm. Trees 

 presenting those conditions which we have- 

 already stated to be attractive to the in- 

 sect, should be especially watched, and 

 any tree that is suddenly checked in 

 growth should be attended to, as it will 

 probably be found to contain the borer,, 

 though the outward signs of its presence 

 may not at first be so manifest. There is 

 a very general impression, also, among 

 orchardists, that this insect is more in- 

 jurious on low lands than on high lands, 

 and orchards on Ioav lands should be more, 

 particularly watched. 



