-11- 



FROTECT YOUNG TREES FROH INSECTS 



Your young orchard deserves protectioric You've spent money preparing the 

 landj you've purchased the treesj you've spent something on disease control. 

 In other words, you have an investment j why let it deteriorate through neglect? 



At least three, possibly four, inseots are likely to require attention. 

 They are the green apple aphid, the round headed apple tree borer, the buffalo 

 treehopper and the apple leaf hopper. Occasionally, under some types of manage- 

 ment, mites may become a problem. Rarely, one of the scale insects may cause 

 some real damage. 



It takes only one or tv;o apple tree borers to kill a small tree. Since the 

 female beetles may lay up to 25 eggs apiece, it does not take many beetles to 

 set up a serious infestation in a young orchard. The beetles do not prefer 

 other plants for egg laying, but their larvae liave been found in shadbush, crab- 

 apple, mountain ash, some chokecherries and hathornes and other fruit trees. 



The adult beetles emerge from late Hay until the early part of July. Egg 

 laying begins shortly after the first adults emerge and may continue on into August, 



The adult beetles feed upon the bark and foliage of host plants. There is 

 evidence that they prefer to feed upon ha-wthorne and perhaps shadbush, even though 

 their egg laying preference seems to be young apple trees. They tend to feed more 

 on the bark of twigs than upon leaves, but in neither instance is this feeding 

 enough to be serious. 



This habit of feeding, hov^ever, does provide a simple method of effective 

 control, at least where the infestation has never been allowed to become well 

 developed. Lead arsenate used at 3 pounds per 100 gallons, plus a good sticker, 

 will provide good control. Applications should begin as the first beetles start 

 to emerge in late May or early June, For a high degree of control, and particular- 

 ly where the infestation is building up and likely to be serious, the insecticide 

 should be applied to ha^Tthornes, shadbush and v/ild fruit trees vrithin the vicinity 

 as well as to the yoiong trees themselves. It is important also tiiat the application 

 be repeated after an interval of 2 weeks to cover new grovrth and to assure a toxic 

 residue throughout the period of beetle emergence and egg laying. 



Developing infestations of the green apple aphid normally become apparent by 

 late June, The inclusion of some aphicide with the second application of lead 

 arsenate should check such an outbreak. 



Several materials could be used against the aphids and some of them would 



also knock out any leaf hoppers that were getting started. These might be nicotine 



sulfate, if you -vrish to protect predators of aphids and mites as much as possible, 

 or it could be benzene hexachloride (Bffi) or lindane. 



