No. 11. 



The Borer. — Grease for Carriage Wheels, SfC. 



347 



and then set about ploughing fifty acres ticice, 

 for the reception of grass-seed ! — what prac- 

 tical man will not prefer occasional blight to 

 the "remedy" on such terms? 



I join issue with the respectable author of 

 that well-written paper in another particular: 

 I allude to his views of vegetable physiology. 

 He says, when arguing that the rays of the 

 sun are impeded from the roots of the wheat 

 by a heavy coat of grass — " the last eflbrt of 

 a stalk of grain is to elaborate its sap to the 

 berry — the leaves of the plant, having per- 

 formed their office of shading the soil, die 

 away." The leaves, which arc the real lungs 

 or elaborating organs of a plant, are here 

 treated as shadows ! If, however, Col. Smith 

 will withdraw his claim for a premium, I 

 shall pursue the subject-matter of his paper 

 no farther for the present, but will just add, 

 by giving no anonyme, and dating my where- 

 abouts, I am always accessible to correspond- 

 ing agricultural friends — an advantage not 

 afforded by anonymous contributors, many of 

 whom would render service by acknowledg- 

 ing themselves. 



\V. PeNN KlNZER. 



Springlavvn Fanii, Pequea, 

 Lancaster County, May 3, 1841. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 The Borer. 



In many sections of the country, this worm 

 is so destructive to apple, peach, and quince 

 trees, as to discourage the farmer from plant- 

 ing them ; and many young orchards are near- 

 ly destroyed. Numerous cures and -preven- 

 tives have been, from time to time, published, 

 and all have eventually failed ; some, proba- 

 bly, in consequence of requiring more time, 

 labour and money, than farmers generally are 

 able to spare. A few years ago, fresh tar 

 was highly recommended as a certain pre- 

 ventive; I have seen the experiment fully 

 tried on a number of fine apple-lrees near a 

 tan-yard, and they were nearly all destroyed 

 by the worms. Unleached ashes, lime, rye 

 straw, and many other articles, have been 

 found quite ineffectual. The old custom of 

 raising a small mound around the tree in the 

 spring, is the worst that can be adopted. 

 The latest preventive that I have seen pub- 

 lished, is tansy or wormwood planted around 

 the trunk of the tree; I have not tried it, but 

 I suspect it will not prove more eft'ectual than 

 hot lime, fresh tar, and other bitter doses. 



Having been long familiar with the habits 

 and operations of this destructive worm, and 

 believing I have adopted the simplest, cheap- 

 est, and most effectual mode of preventing its 

 ravages, I venture to offer it to the readers 

 of the Cabinet, hoping some of them will be 



willing to try the e.xperiment. Unfortunate- 

 ly for the orchard ist, the theory that perfectly 

 healthy plants will not be attacked by insects, 

 will not apply in the case of the borer. On 

 the contrary, it seems to be fond of the most 

 vigorous and healthy trees; and often, after 

 the farmer has carefully cultivated his young 

 orchard for several years, and observed with 

 pleasure its rapid growth, he is surprised and 

 disappointed to find tree after tree falling 

 prostrate, and he soon discovers that the trunk 

 has been completely girdled just below the 

 surface of the ground. The worm is partial 

 to that part of the tree; only boring upwards 

 above it at a certain period of its existence, 

 when its change into a fly is about to take 

 place ; after which it eats a hole through the 

 bark and escapes. This occurs during the 

 5th and Cth months (May and June,) and the 

 fly, which is remarkably active, lives through 

 the summer, depositing its eggs in the bark 

 of the tree at the surface of the ground. 

 Therefore, the deeper the earth is above the 

 roots, the higher up in the trunk the egg will 

 be placed, and the greater will be the injury 

 by the boring of the worm. On the other 

 hand, if the trunk of the tree and the upper 

 roots be kept perfectly bare, winter and sum- 

 mer, the fly will deposit its egg (if it per- 

 forms the operation at all) in the roots, seve- 

 ral inches from the body of the tree, and little 

 or no injury will follow. My own experience 

 enables me to assert, that a worm will very 

 rarely be found in a tree with its roots thus 

 exposed ; and the tree v.'ill flourish better than 

 when planted deep. In transplanting trees 

 fiom a nursery, great care should be taken 

 not to plant them too deep ; let the upper 

 roots be so near the surface of the ground, 

 that a little basin formed about the tree may 

 expose the upper part of them to the sun and 

 air. 



S. Rhoads, Jr. 



Haddington Nursery, 5tli mo. 1st, 1841. 



Grease for Carriage Wheels, &c. 



This composition prevents friction to a 

 great extent, and of course prevents the wear 

 of all rubbing surfaces. Its cost is not com- 

 paratively greater than the materials often 

 employed for the purpose; it is not changed 

 by heat, and hence does not liquefy and flovir 

 away from its proper place. 



Black load pulverized .'iO parts by weight. 



Hos's lard 50 do. do. 



White soap 50 do. do. 



duicksilvcr 5 do. do. 



Amalgamate well the lard and mercury by 

 rubbing them together for a long time in a 

 mortar; then gradually add the black lead, 

 and lastly the soap, mixing the whole as per- 

 fectly as possible. — Rec. Soc. Poly. 



