vol,, xi.v. NO. r. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



53 



Kur the New £ngland Karmcr. 



THE BORER. 



Mr Bkf.ck — Sir — Pormit me through the col- 

 umns of your most useful paper, to lay before your 

 readers some facts re»pectinir that most destruc- 

 tive insect called the borer. I am sensible that 

 much has ah-eady been said in relation to this in- 

 sect ; but, as the sayin!> is, it may not be amiss to 

 "stir up the minds of some by way of remembrance," 

 being aware that this insect and fruit trees are too 

 much neglected. 



.^s to the orij;in of this insect, almost all who 

 have ever written respecting it, have widely differ- 

 ed. Some have supposed it orijrinated in the ma- 

 nure, and have therefore prepared a compost of 

 several ingredients to put about the roots of the 

 tree, in order to nourish it, and provided there were 

 any of them in the manure which was put into the 

 compost, thereby kill them. Again others have sup- 

 posed that they originated from the fruit which falls 

 upon the ground botore ripe,- and leaving that it 

 commences its attack upon the tree ; and therefore 

 in order to secure themselves in this respect, they 

 have taken pains to pick up once a week all the 

 fruit which falls from the tree before it is ripe. 

 And finally such is the diversity of ininds in res- 

 pect to the borer, that to eniiuierate them all and 

 enter into particulars respecting them, would fill a 

 bulky volume. Therefore I will pass over the 

 opinions of others on the subject iu question, and 

 proceed to give my own. That the borer does not 

 originate in some degree in the nianures put about 

 the tree, I am not disposed to deny; indeed, I 

 think it very probable that such is the case, from 

 the fact that all manures contain more or less worms; 

 and as a safeguard, I think it highly commendable 

 as well as beneficial to secure the tree about the 

 roots with a good compost made of something which 

 will destroy the insect and prevent the injury which 

 would, as a natural consequence, result to the tree. 



Again that the borer does not originate from the 

 windfalls which lie about the roots of the tree, I 

 cannot deny, although if this is the fact, I have 

 never learned it from practical e.xperience. How- 

 ever as it is not impossible that the insect may 

 originate in this way, I think it would be well to 

 be on our guard, and secure ourselves by pickin'' 

 up alUhe apples which fall from the tree; and Tf 

 we do not in this way prevent the depredations of 

 the borer, I am sensible from experience th.at we 

 shall secure our trees from v-.rious olher insects, 

 which if the fruit was not gathered up, would in 

 the course of the fall or the next year, appear again 

 to make their ruthless attacks upon the fruit if°not 

 on the tree itself. 



I have said that I did not deny but that in some 

 degree the borer originates from the manures put 

 about the tree, or from the fruit which falls before 

 it is ripe ; but that they originate solelij in either of 

 these ways, I do not, 1 cannot believe; because I 

 Jiave extracted borers from the tree, from the roots 

 upward to the height of ten feet. Now if they 

 originate from the manures altogi.'ther, how docs it 

 happen ihat they get so high up on the tree, espe- 

 cially when there has been no manure put about 

 the tree for a year, and are found also at the small 

 Bize of a half inch in length .= If they had been in 

 the manure when it was put around tlie tree, they 

 would have commenced their depredations before, 

 and been ofa larger size than half an inch in length.' 

 Again, that they originate in the fruit altogether, 

 IS a great mistake, as I have found a vast nuiny in 



trees which did not bear at all, and those too of a 

 very small size. 



But you may ask, from what then dues it origi- 

 n>ite ? That is more than I can teM : but I can 

 tell you what I think about it. I think by what I 

 have seen myself and learned from others who 

 were acquainted with the borer, that in general it 

 originates from a certain insect, (of what descrip- 

 tion I cannot tell,) which in the ii.onth of June de- 

 positcs an egg in the bark of the tree, in various 

 places, which egg in tlie month of .luly hatches, or 

 in other words becomes a worm, and that worm is 

 the borer. What makes me think that the borer 

 originates in this way is tlie fact that soon after 

 washing my trees with potash water, as I was one 

 day examining them, I perceived several small yel- 

 low spots upon the back of the tree, about the size 

 ofa pin head, or a little larger it may be, and be- 

 ing led by curiosity to examine them, 1 found they 

 contained a worm, but at the same time I had no 

 thought of the borer, as it was altogether out of 

 the season to lind any, excepting those which had 

 remained in the tree during the winter. But as 

 time passed on, I was again looking at this tree on 

 which I saw the spots; when to my surprise I saw 

 that the yellow spots were gone, and in their stead 

 there were holes. I took my knife and matie 

 search, when to my greater surprise, I found that 

 the very small worms 1 had found before, were now 

 borers, three quarters of an inch in lenp-th, and had 

 commenced eating very voraciously between the 

 bark of the tree and the wood. l'"iuding there were 

 many in the trees, tho'ugh hardly perceivable, I 

 went to the shop and selected as an instrument for 

 extracting them, a gouge, one half inch in width, 

 which I found upon usage answered my purpose 

 well, and if I remember right, I at the time extract- 

 ed as many as fifteen borers from one tree — three 

 old ones and twelve small ones, and since then I. 

 have taken out several more, some of which were 

 higher than I could reach without climbing ; still 

 later I have examined more trees, and thoe.gh I 

 have found none so bad as the one above mention- 

 ed, yet I perceive, as the prospect is now, that it 

 will be a fine year for them, I have written this, in 

 order that the farmer and gardener might be on 

 the look out, especially for the young borers : ifat- 

 ended to in season, their extraction may be accom- 

 plished without apparently iijuring the tree. The 

 first time I attended to the borers was on the 28tli 

 of July last, and more or less ever since; and 

 though September is thought to be the best time to 

 attend to them, I think farmers will do well to at- 

 tend to them as much before that time as is con- 

 venient. 



If any one would like to seethe tree out of 

 which I took so many borers, and at the height I 

 have stated, they can gratify their curiosity by call- 

 ing on me at Mr Samuel Kidder's, in Medford, as 

 I will with pleasure shor,- them the tree ; and if 

 any one can give better proof that the borer orig- 

 inates in any other way than that which I have 

 stated, I should like to hear from them. 

 Yours, in farmers' love, 



JAMES .M. HARTWELL. 



Medforil, Mass., Aug. Gth, J 8 10. • 



[Rkhakks by J. I?. — Our correspondent is rifht 

 in his conclusion about the origin of the borer. 'The 

 subject is now generally well understood by practi- 

 cal horticulturists, and by timely care their trees 

 are preserved from the depredations of this destruc- 

 tive insect. It requires patience and perseverance 



to keep them under subjection, and they are, there- 

 fore, truly considered a great evil. 



There are other i.'istruments quite as effectual as 

 the gouge or crooked wire for the destruction of 

 the borer ; and these are the bill and long tongue 

 of the little speckled wood-pecker. Let these birds 

 be encouraged, and much of the labor of the horti- 

 culturist is prevented. A friend of ours told us he 

 would not have one of these birds killed for five 

 dollars, and that he suffered no loafer to enter his 

 j)remises with a gun. and considers the man or boy 

 who injures a bird in the same light as if they rob- 

 bed his purse ] 



For the New England Farmer. 



CIRCULAR LEAD TROUGHS. 

 Mr Editor — The several articles which have 

 appeared in your paper of late relating to troughs 

 made of lead or tin, applied to the apple tree to aid 

 in the destruction of the canker worm, bring to my 

 recollection the fact that similar trcmghs made of 

 lead, were used in this vicinity in the years 1833 

 and 1834; and 1 believe in other subsequent sea- 

 sons. I used them myself of lead in a circular 

 form, applied to the tree in the manner described 

 by Dennis ; excepting that I did not leave so large 

 a space between the lead and the tree as he men- 

 tions. Where the troughs were properly fitted and 

 care was taken to keep them properly supplied 

 with oil, they constituted an effectual guard against 

 the progress of the insect, and prevented their go- 

 ing upon the tree. The first season I used these 

 troughs, I was much pleased with them, and recom- 

 mended them to others. 'I'hey were used at the 

 same time by Wm. Sutton, Esq., of Salem, and 

 others. Subsequently I observed that the bark up- 

 on thef trees, where the troughs had been fastened, 

 appeared to have been injured. Wherever they 

 pressed against the trees or wherever ^ pail had 

 been inserted, it became discolore'' j^pj peeled off. 

 Some of the wounds thus "cr'^gJQpgj },_.jyg p^.i vet 

 entirely healed. And I have since concluded 

 Hhat the danger of permanently injurinn- the ir^"' 

 by the use of such troughs, was great°er than the 

 a d*antages to be gained by obstruotina the pro- 

 gress ot the canker worm. As yet I have seen no 

 pi-eventive so effectual as <,.-r, when properly ap- 

 plied. If care is taken to apply bark or cloth to 

 the tree before the tar is put on, and to remove it 

 at a proper time, there will be little danger of injury 

 by tnis application. I liave no desire to interfere 

 with any man's patml rights, but was very much 

 at5tonished when I saw in your last paper a descrip- 

 tion of the article patented, because 1 think it is 

 not a new invention. 



Respectfully, your ob't serv't, 



J. W. PROCTOR. 

 Danvers, Aug. 1st, 1840. 



The annual Cattle Show, Exhibition and Fair of 

 the New Haven County Agricultural and Horticul- 

 tural Societies, will take pFace about the first week 

 in October. 'I he exhibitions of ihese Societies 

 last year gave a start to the interest already begin- 

 ning to be (elt in the community ; and the exhibi- 

 tions of 1839 will long be remembered as an era in 

 the cause of agriculture. We are informed that 

 arrangements are in progress by both the Socie- 

 ties, which taken in connexion with the uncommon 

 fruitfulness of the present season, will render the 

 exhibition highly attractive. 



