380 



TJie Borer. — Stock- Far mivg. 



Vol. V. 



For tlie Farmers' Cabinet. 



The Borer. 



In the Farmers' Cabinet of the 15th inst., 

 there is a valuable article by S. Rhoads, Jr., 

 on the depredations committed on fruit trees 

 by a species of worm called the Borer. When 

 I purchased the farm on which I live, some 

 25 years past, the apple-trees in the orchard 

 were much infested with them ; some were 

 dead, and others in a decaying state. On 

 discovering the cause, I found that unless 

 some effectual remedy could be applied, there 

 was great danger of losing a valuable young 

 orchard, and being altogether a stranger to 

 the practice used, if any there were for their 

 e.xtirpation, the plan I adopted was to remove 

 the dirt, dead bark, &c. from the parts affect- 

 ed, which were readily discovered by the 

 excrements the borers worked out, and then 

 forcing a piece of very tough wood, niade so 

 as to penetrate their abode, several times 

 back and forwards, until they were killed; 

 if any chanced to escape, it would be appa- 

 rent in a day or two by their excrements 

 being worked out afresh. By annually, or 

 oftener, if necessary, pursuing this course, I 

 so effectually destroyed them, that I have not 

 been much annoyed with them for many 

 years. The most effectual preventive that I 

 have tried is, to keep the ground for a few 

 inches round the tree entirely clear of all 

 rubbish at all seasons, not suffering grass, 

 loose bark, or clods of earth to touch the tree; 

 for where there is no dwelling-place, there 

 will not be likely to be any lodgers. By pur- 

 suing this plan, I find but little injury to my 

 trees, and it also saves them from being eaten 

 by mice, which often do much damage to 

 young orchards when surrounded by grass or 

 weeds. I do not entirely agree with my 

 friend, S. Rhoads, that it is best to have the 

 trees planted so shallow as to have " the roots 

 bare winter and summer;" as far as my ex- 

 perience goes, I have found the borer more 

 destructive and much harder to eradicate 

 when entered at the junction of the root with 

 the stock, than when they have taken up 

 their abode a little higher, where there is not 

 so much unevenness of wood and are more 

 readily got at. I am aware that very shal- 

 low planting is all the fashion with nursery- 

 men, and perhaps the trees may grow as well 

 or better for a season, but most people want 

 them to last a while as well as grow. Farm- 

 ers generally find it not only expedient, but 

 necessary, frequently to plough their orchards, 

 and if done where the trees are planted so 

 shallow as for the roots to be bare or nearly 

 so, they are generally much injured thereby ; 

 and after a long north-easterly storm, and the 

 ground becomes soft, the wind suddenly shifts 

 to the north-west and prostrates our trees, or 



so nearly that they are not worth retaining ; 

 then, if not removed, they soon become cank- 

 ered and die. I have tried with good suc- 

 cess, in several instances, the hauling of a 

 cart-load of earth around a pretty large apple- 

 tree that appeared fast declining, raising it 

 around the trunk some 6 to 12 inches; and 

 in one instance I think I saved a large valu- 

 able apple-tree by putting a few bushels of 

 lime ashes around its trunk. This was done 

 several years ago, when the tree gave strong 

 symptoms of rapid decay, but is now in a 

 healthy state. Have others tried either of 

 these plans] and if so, with what success? 

 Let the result be known, whether favourable 

 or otherwise. 



Possibly what I have written might not be 

 considered of sufficient importance to occupy 

 the columns of the Cabinet; yet, if friend 

 Rhoads sees it, he may take some hints from 

 it which may be of use when he again ap- 

 pears in the Cabinet, which I hope he will 

 ere long, as I am very friendly to the propa- 

 gation of good fruit. 



A Montgomery County Farmer. 



6th mo. 25th, 1841. 



P. S, The piece in the last Cabinet signed 

 R, on Soiling Horses, although satisfactory 

 as far as it went, would have been more 

 60 if he had given us his opinion on the 

 comparative ability to perform daily hard 

 work by his practice, as compared with feed- 

 ing them on good hay. The value of many 

 communications is much lessened by not 

 going sufficiently into detail, so as to enable 

 the reader to judge of the comparative ad- 

 vantages the system or practice recommend- 

 ed may possess over former ones. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Stock-Farming. 



Mr. Editor, — It would appear that some 

 one had thought of and put into practice the 

 plan of stock-farming which your correspond- 

 ent James Neal proposes for his adoption at 

 page 317 of the Cabinet, three years ago; for 

 I yesterday saw in the streets of Philadelphia 

 — whither I had gone with butter, a distance 

 of 20 miles, and could obtain but 15 cents a 

 pound for it — three of the prettiest two-year 

 old steers that I ever clapped eyes or hand 

 upon, and they were such a cross as he pro- 

 poses, namely, one dip between the Durham 

 bull and the East-country cow, sleek as a 

 mole and fat as butter. Now, only calculate 

 the value of such fat small beef in the mar- 

 ket at this season of the year, before the 

 coming in of larger beasts, and add to this 

 the difference of — Franklin says — 10 per cent, 

 between " will you buy," and " will you sell," 



