408 



BUGS, INSECTS, ETC.— REMEDIES FO] 



in the perfect beetle state that the insect 

 does the injury to our fruit and forest 

 trees, boring into the twig just above the 

 bud, working down sometimes to the 

 depth of two or more inches through the 

 pith, thus finding in the branch both food 

 and protection. Even in mid- winter both 

 male and female beetles may sometimes 

 be found hiding in the cylindrical burrows, 

 and always with the head directed down- 

 ward. The insects are plentiful in the 

 Western States. 



Remedy. — The only remedy that can 

 be suggested, when the insects attack 

 twigs and branches, is to cut them off 

 some distance below the place injured 

 and to burn them immediately, with the 

 beetles inside, as it is not likely that any 

 preparation could be applied to the trees 

 that would prevent their attacks. 



TWIG -GIRDLER.— The beetle that 

 thus girdles the twigs is the perfect insect 

 of the so-called " twig-girdler," medium- 

 sized, long-horned beetle, of a chesnut- 

 brown color, and having a broad, lighter 

 colored band across the wing-covers. 

 The female beetle first makes a perfora- 

 tion in a branch, generally just below a 

 bud; she then deposits an egg in this per- 

 foration, in one case even making as many 

 as six perforations, in which eggs were 

 ■ deposited below the buds in a single 

 branch, not more than a foot in length. 



After the insect has deposited her eggs, 

 she proceeds to gnaw all around the 

 branch, thus forming a circular cut or 

 incision, about one-eighth to one-tenth of 

 an inch in width, below the place where 

 the eggs are deposited, so that the exte- 

 rior part or end dies ; the larva, when 

 hatched, feeds on the dead wood, which 

 sort of food appears to be essential to its 

 growth. The principal injury is said to be 

 done in August and September. They have 

 also been found to injure walnut and ap- 

 ple trees as well as those above men- 

 tioned. 



Remedy. — The best way to eradicate 

 this insect is to cut off all such branches 

 and twigs as have the least appearance of 

 having been girdled, and to gather up all 

 fallen branches and burn them immedi- 

 ately, as the eggs or larvae of the next 

 year's generation are contained in these 

 twigs, and, if allowed to remain undis- 

 turbed, would produce a race of beetles 



next season which would girdle all the 

 trees in the neighborhood. The best 

 time to prune off the infested 

 branches is after the leaves have fallen 

 from the trees, as the injury can be more 

 plainly seen than when the tree is full of 

 leaves. 



PEACH - BORER, Remedy for. — 



Take a five pound can of car- 

 bolic soap, called "carbolic plant- 

 protector," (costing two dollars,) dis- 

 solve it in ten or twelve gallons of hot 

 water by stirring or letting stand over 

 night, then add twenty gallons of cold 

 water, and apply this liquid, with a paint- 

 brush, to the base of each tree, for eight 

 or ten inches in height first clearing 

 away any weeds or loose dirt with a hoe, 

 and taking pains to have the liquor enter 

 the crevices of the bark where the insect 

 deposits her eggs. An active man or lad 

 will go over, in this way, five hundred 

 trees in a day. If the orchard is in clean 

 condition the above quantity of liquid 

 will serve for a thousand trees, so that 

 the expense is not over half a cent per 

 treee. Apply from the first to the middle 

 of July. 



INSECT INJURIES, to Fruit Trees, and 

 their Remedies. — Insects rarely attack the 

 most healthy and vigorous trees ; hence 

 the importance of effort to keep fruit trees 

 in the most thriving state. The black 

 louse, imbedded in the bark, lays her 

 eggs, and covers them till hatched, then 

 removes them to another place and re- 

 peats the process. The grain lice are 

 attended by ants which seem to milk 

 them, living on the sweet substance 

 exuding from them. They are often 

 killed by another insect which breeds 

 within them, and is their constant enemy 

 and our friend and helper. 



CURRANT BORERS. — To destroy 

 these borers, the plants should be exam- 

 ined every fall or during winter, and 

 every shoot that has a borer in it will 

 usually be of a brown color, or slightly 

 wilted ; sometimes, when the shoots are 

 very vigorous, no difference can be ob- 

 served, but by close inspection the small 

 hole where the worm entered can be 

 found. All shoots containing worms 

 should be cut out, and the worm destroy- 

 ed. In this way they may be checked, if 

 not entirely eradicated. 



