NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Published by John B. Russi-.ll at the corner of Conoross ami I/inJall Streots. — Tiioiia.s G. FksskndkiN, Eiiitor. 



VOL. V. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 25. 1826. 



NO. 5, 



ORIGINAL PAPERS. 



PEACH TREE INSECT. 



Mr Fesse>den — Although much has beenwrit- 



1 respectiug the insect which attacks the roots 

 our peach trees, it may not be amiss to remind 



ur readers that this is the time to guard against 



uccession of the evil. The works in which this 



ect is described may not be accessible to all ; a 



ort account, therefore, of what is known res- 

 tinor it, is offered to you for publication in your 



eful paper. 



Dne of the first writers who described the peach 

 e insect, was the late Dr. Benj. Smith Barton, 

 celebrated botanist, and Professor of Natural 



story, in the University of Pennsylvania. In 

 memoir on various destructive insects,* which 



tained the Magellanic premium, in 1806, from 

 Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, this in- 



ct is called Zyg.ena Persic^. He also men- 

 ned it to M. Lacepede, in a letter published in 



Uoch's Philosophical Magazine, XXII. p. 208 ; 



d this letter is quoted by Kirby &, Spence, in 

 first volume of their Introduction to Entomol- 

 . Dr Barton had observed this insect as early 

 the year 1799, and mentioned it in his Frag- 

 nts of Natural History, page 24, note 2d ; but 

 ed respecting the order to w'hich it belongs. — 

 bseqiiently he corrected this error by placing it 

 the genus ZyCiEN.*, amongst the Lepidoptera, 

 order which contains the butterflies, hawk- 

 ths, and moths. Linna;us would have consid- 

 ;d it as a hawk-moth, or SruiNX ; but this g'^- 

 3 having been repeatedly subdivided, our peach- 

 sect is now to be arranged in the family 

 fGiSiDiE of Leach, and genus jEgeeia of Fab- 

 :ius. It is the jEgeria emtiosa of Prof. Say, 

 d was scientifically described by him for Mr 

 orth's paper in the Journal of the Acad. Natu- 

 l Sciences, vol. iii. part 1, page 216 ; and after- 

 uris in the second volume of Prof. Say's Ameri- 

 ffl Entomology. From these works some ex 

 nets w ill be made, and your readers are also re 

 Med to the American Farmer, vol. vi. p. 14, 37, 

 »4, and 401, for remarks made by Mr Wni. Shot- 

 jU, Mr Evan Thomas, Jr., Dr J. Smith, and Mr 

 juben Ilaynos. 



The presence of this insect is detected by the 

 ■zing of gum from the trunk, close to the ground, 

 id if this be removed, together with a small por- 

 in of the bark, the larva will be exposed, lying 

 xt to the wood, and cufved laterally in a cres- 

 nt form. I have taken them from the trees in 

 ebruary, of various sizes, and in full vigor. T 



nipts tlic returning sap vessels, causing tlie tree 

 to bleed ; and the gum to ooze at the wound. 



After it has ceased feeding, the caterpillar con- 

 structs a cocoon of a brown colour, and oblong 

 oval shape, composed of castings of the bark ce- 

 mented by glutinous, silky fibres. In this it takes 

 on the chrysalis form, and remains till near the 

 middle of July. Some cocoons, liowever arc form- 

 ed successively later, and the chrysalis state is, 

 of course, proporlionably protracted. After re- 

 peated efforts the chrysalis perforates its cocoon 

 at the upper end, and contrives, by means of sev- 

 eral bands of teeth which arm its back, and the 

 spires wliich surround its tail, to thrust itself 

 about half way out of the cocoon : the skin then 

 bursts on the head, and the perfect insect e.xtri- 

 cates itself from its slough. 



The two se.xes differ exceedingly from each 

 other ; so much so, as at one time to have deceiv- 

 ed Dr Barton. He having first described this 

 insect, the name which he has imposed has the 

 priority, and must be retained. 



MaKKiApersicw, male — wings transparent, mar- 

 gin and nervures dark blue ; body, steel blue ; 

 tail bearded, the beard tipped with white ; legs 

 blue, with the joints golden yellow. Female — 

 steel blue ; anterior wings opaque, posterior ones. 

 e.\f ept the margins and nervures, transparent ; 

 body with a saffron coloured band across the mid- 

 dle. Length of the body about 3 quarters of an 

 inch. The female is much more robust than the 

 male. 



This insect I first obtained in the perfect state 

 in July 1823, and sent a description of it to Hon. 

 John Lowell. It is a remarkable coincidence 

 that the name which I then gave it, is the same as 

 that given by Dr Barton, although I was then un- 

 acquainted with his account of it. I also obtained 

 a specimen of the male from an e.xcrescence on the 

 trunk of a cherry tree, and have frequently ob- 

 served the larvE m those tubercles which deform 

 the limbs of that tree. 



The females deposit their eggs in the month of 

 August on the trunk of the peach tree, near the 



root; the eggs are soon hatched, and the larva im 



ing in the use of the knife ; a piece of wire v. ill 

 often answer the purpose quite as well, and doe? 

 not wound the burk. 



Mr Worlli recommends, besides searching itt 

 July for the insect, to surround the trunk with 

 tow, or a strip of hide with the hair on, six inches 

 wide, the hair aide next the tree, but turned over 

 at top, and the skin covered at tlie bottom wil'i 

 earth. The bandage to be removed about th" 

 middle of Ke])teinber, and the tree to be brushed 

 with soft soap or lime-wash. He suggests that a 

 decoction of tobacco, or even hot water, might 

 answer. Mr W. mentions other remedies which 

 have been proposed, such as tanner's bark, aiid 

 flour of sulphur placed round the roots ^boxing 

 the trunk, and filling with ashes, sand, &.c. ; hill- 

 ing the earth around it in summer, laying bare the 

 roots in winter ; but states that most of these, 

 methods are ineffectual from being applied at im- 

 proper times ; and that the covering and subse- 

 quent exposure of the roots is decidedly injuri- 

 ous. 



Mr Gilliams derived great advantage from plac- 

 ing cinders of coal ashes around the roots, after 

 the earth had been removed. This plan hi.; been 

 I'ound very beneficial to the trees of a friend of 

 mine in this vicinity. 



Mr Skinner recommends cleaning the trees, and 

 then putting a layer of lime-mortar half an inch 

 thick around them. ^_ 



Mr Thomas removed the earth down to the lat- 

 eral roots, coated the trunk with a composition 

 made of two Larts of fresh cow dung, and one part 

 of leachcf a.;hcs, to every galioii of which aie to 

 be added a handful of ground plaster, and water 

 enough to form the whole into a thick paste. — 

 Over this coat is to be wound a strip of canton 

 matting, from six to twelve inches in width, one 

 half of which is to be above and the other beneath 

 the surface of the ground. 



Mr Thomas says that there are two periods in 

 each year assigned for the production and re-pro- 

 duction of these insects. The eggs deposited in 

 July producing the perfect insect towards the end 



mediately penetrate beneath the bark. Some eggs 

 are laid ,as late as the last of September. 



The precautions which I would recommend are 

 to remove the earth around the roots, carefully to 

 search it and the trees for any cocoons or larvaj 

 which may exist there, which should be crushed 

 or burned. This operation should be commenced 

 early in this month. Then cover the trunk with 

 the common composition, or wash, and surround it 

 with coarse paper, such as is used for sheathing, 



nib or more properly caterpillar,^ ^l"^ ,^ reddish | _^^^ ^^.j^.^j^ ^^ manufactured from junk, or old cord- 

 age. This is to be properly secured by strings of 

 Canton matting, and should extend two or three 

 inches below the surface of the ground and 6 or 7 

 inches above it. Mortar may now be placed round 

 the roots so as (o confine the paper, and prevent 

 access beneath it, and the remaining cavity filled 

 with fresh loam. The strings may be removed 

 after the winter commences ; in the spring the 

 tree should again be searched for any of the larva? 

 which may have escaped at first, and the applica- 

 tion of composition and loam be renewed. 

 1 In getting out the caterpillar we should be spar- 



Ihite colour, with a brown head, 10 legs: and 

 is the body covered with a few minute hairs. — 

 [r Worth says, that ' it commences its operations 

 Dout the last of September, entering the tro9 a 

 ttle below the surface of the ground, w'.^ere the 

 irk is tender ; it cuts through the bark, passes 

 ownwards into the root, then returns upwarls, 

 nd reaches the surface by the beginning of June 

 jUowing.' It feeds on the liber, or inner bark, 

 nd on the albunium or new wood, and thus intcr- 



of October ; and the eggs which these leave oo 

 the trees produce larvje in April, which accom- 

 plish their final transformation in July. Hence lie 

 recommends searching the trees about the end of 

 April or the beginning of September. From my 

 own observation I find, that, in this part of the 

 country, although there are several broods pro- 

 duced by a succession of hatclies, there is but 

 one rotation of metamorphoses consummated with- 

 in a year. Hence larva? of all sizes will be found 

 throughout the year, although it appears necessa- 

 rv that all of them, whether more or less advanc- 

 ed, should pass through one winter before they ap- 

 pear in the perfect state. 



THADDEUS W. HARRIS. 

 Mitt on, August 12, 1826. 



' Dr Mease has published aa extract from this Me- 



SORREL. 



Mr Fessendejj — In the " Economical Memo- 

 randa" of the N. E. Farmer, of July 14, I notice 

 the following — " Lime will destroy sorrel. Sorrel 

 is acid ; lime is an alkaline earth ; ergo the latter 

 will destroy the former." 



Pardon me for doubting the correctness of this 



