138 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



injured. It is very liable to attack young, newly transplanted 

 trees, which may be girdled in a single season. Ingress is often 

 afforded where branches have been cut off and the wounds are not 

 thoroughly covered. It reaches full development within a year 

 from the time the egg is laid. 



The use of soap wash, to prevent the successful laying of the 

 eggs, is the best protection. It should be applied with particular 

 care, about all wounds or scars, and in the forks of the large 

 branches. Young, newly planted trees should be especially 

 attended to, in all localities where there is any trouble from this 

 pest. The application of the wash at the same season will serve 

 against both the Eouud-beaded and the Flat-headed borers, but in 

 treating for the former, the soap should be applied very close to 

 the ground, or even a little below the surface, scraping away a 

 little of the loose soil for that purpose and replacing it afterward. 



The same preventives and remedies can be applied for a large 

 proportion of the kinds of borers which injure the stems and 

 branches of our trees and shrubs. The damage is done by the 

 insects while in the state of grubs or larvae, which are hatched 

 from eggs that are usually deposited upon or within the bark ; and 

 the best mode of controlling them is to prevent their entrance. 

 In applying washes to the bark, we should know the habits of the 

 parent insects, and especially at what season their eggs are 

 deposited, because any washes applied at the wrong time will do 

 little or no good. 



Sometimes the stems of plants may be so full}'^ infested that it 

 would be better to cut and burn them while all the insects are 

 within. In the Arnold Arboretum the stems of the native willows, 

 of many species, have recently become greatly infested by an 

 imported beetle {Cruptorhynclms lapatlii) belonging to the curculio 

 family. This insect may give great trouble to willow growers, and 

 as willows grow easily and rapidly from cuttings or from the 

 stumps, it may l)e that our best remedy will be found in cutting 

 down and burning all infested parts of the plants while the pests 

 are within them. 



Borers in small branches and twigs are sometimes troublesome. 

 The Oak Pruner {Elaphidionvillosum), for instance, of ten, causes 

 small branches of oak, apple, and other trees to break off and fall 

 to the ground in the autumn and winter. As the larvoe remain in 

 the twigs all winter, they are easily destroyed by collecting and 

 burning the detached branches. 



