128 



I^EW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Marce 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HISTORY OP THE BORER. 



Mr. Bkowx : — The insect wliich propagates this 

 destructive worm usually lays its eggs in the month 

 of June or July, and they are hatched in the fol- 

 lowing month of August or Septemljer ; immedi- 

 ately the maggots penetrate the bark, eating the 

 pulpy part next the wood. The latter part of Sept. 

 they are not more than 1-lG of an inch in length, 

 and are easily removed, being usually found with- 

 in an inch of the top of the ground. It requires 

 keen eyes to discover them, but it may be done in 

 young trees by observing a little roughness where 

 the maggot enters, and a slight discoloration of 

 the bark at tliat particular spot. By the last of 

 November, slight cuttings may be seen through 

 some very small punctures in the bark. At this 

 season, the worm will be found about 3-lG of an 

 inch in length, and to have eaten in the soft bark 

 and pulpy sap-wood, a space as large in ai-ea, as a 

 middling sized bean. Up to this time they have 

 done very little damage, and are easily removed 

 with a sharp pointed knife. 



Early the next spring they commence their 

 course downward, working in the last year's sap- 

 wood, directly under the bark. This year, their 

 depredations are most destructive, working main- 

 ly below the surface of the ground. I have known 

 four worms half girdle a tree four inches in diam- 

 eter, eating most of the sap-wood on one side, and 

 running their path together in various directions 

 from the top of the ground to the junction of the 

 roots. In the Nijvember of the 2d year they are 

 about 3-4 of an inch in length, and may almost al- 

 ways 1)6 found below the point where they first en- 

 tered the bark, and rarely ever beneath the wood, 

 but in the sap-wood beneath the bark, which is 

 usually discolored, but not broken. The next 

 spring they turn upwards, following up some chan- 

 nel which they have previously made, until they 

 are about as high as tlie point where tliey first en- 

 tered ; they then eat inward, in a direction not 

 usually straight, mainly upward, and rarely ever 

 more than an inch into tlie solid wood of the tree. 

 Here they remain the third winter of their life, and 

 are about an inch or an inch and quarter in length. 

 The next spring they turn their course out towards 

 the bark, and when nearly through the wood,about 

 the 1st of June, they are transformed to a perfect 

 winged insect, which soon eats directly out through 

 the remaining wood and bark, leaving a round hole 

 about 1-4 of an inch in diameter, and usually from 

 six to ten inches above the place of enti*ance. 



I have on the 5tli of June taken from a section 

 of tree which it had spoiled, a perfectly formed in- 

 sect, with aT)out the same thickness of wood as of 

 bark to cut through to effect its liberation. Thus 

 they generally occupy nearly three years in the 

 circle of life ; I say generally, as I have some evi- 

 dence that they are not entirely uniform, a few 

 making the circle in two years. 



I have been induced to write this sketch of the 

 borer, as most accounts of the insect which I have 

 seen, describe its course upward, and only upward, 

 whereas, its most destructive operations are later- 

 al and d(jwnward, during its second year, and 

 least liable to observation, as cuttings are rarely 

 seen, its operations being at and beneath the sur- 

 face. 



Of the means of prevention, or destruction, I 



have treid the following : A mound of ashes round 



the tree only drove the insect to deposit the egg;? 

 just alxjve them. A wash of spirits of turpentine, 

 or strong ley, is not sure, although it will kill the 

 eggs; yet some of them may be hatched, and when 

 once within the bark any wash leaves them un- 

 harmed. 



A newspaper or wrapping paper wowid around 

 the tree and fastened there, is a perfect security. I 

 have tried it for twelve years and never have had 

 a tree infested that was thus secured — and it is 

 (mly through my neglect, since I first tried it, that 

 I have been troubled. When they are in or under 

 the bark, a sharp-pointed knife is the only sure 

 instrument — remove them the first autumn or next 

 early spring, if possible. This can be done only 

 by close observation. After they have struck in- 

 to the wood and are working upward, I destroy 

 them by introducing a sharp wire, or a very small 

 sponge fastened to the end of a small wire dipped 

 in spirits of turpentine, v/hich, if it touches them, 

 is certain death, and I believe it is if the hole is 

 wet with it. In looking for borers in the month 

 of October, which is perhaps the best month,! 

 advise, that when one is found, be careful to look 

 for more in the same tree. I have usually, when 

 I neglected to paper my young trees, found borers 

 in perhaps one in six, and from those taken out, 

 from four to twelve, showing that a quantity of 

 eggs is usually deposited on one tree: 



Yours, Richard C. Stone. 



Sherburne, June 10, 1852. 



RESULTS OF ACCIDENTS. 



Some of the most useful inventions owe their 

 existence entirely to accident; such, for instance, 

 as the accidental discovery that Plaster of Paris 

 was a non-conductor of heat — a peculiarity to which 

 our "fire-proof safes" are entirely indebted for their 

 usefulness and popuhirity. The discovery was 

 first made in this city in 1830, by a mechanic, who 

 carried on various branches of smith-work in Eld- 

 ridge Street. Having occasion to heat some water, 

 he took a cast-iron vessel in v/hich plaster of Paris 

 had been used, and to which some had adhered, 

 forming a crust or coating on the inside of the 

 kettle from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in 

 thickness ; he poured in water and put it over a 

 fire, with a view of heating the water sufl!iciently 

 for his purpose ; to his great surprise, after remain- 

 ing in some time, he found that no change had 

 been made in the temperature of the water ; he 

 blew the bellows, rendered the fire still hotter, 

 and was still more surprised, after a long lapse of 

 time, that the water did not become warm ; he 

 left the water on the fire, and went on with his 

 work. Returning after some hours, he found the 

 water had only become a little tepid ; on this he 

 laid various combustible substances on the fire, 

 but still no effect was produced. Being somewhat 

 puzzled to account for so strange a state of things, 

 he next day instituted a scries of inquiries, the 

 result of which was the invention of the celebrated 

 "Salamander Safe," for the privilege of manu- 

 facturing which, Mr. Wilder, of this city, pays 

 the discoverer, S. C. Herring, $25,000 a year. 

 So much for having an accident in the family, 

 and properly taking advantage of it. — iV. Y. 

 Dutchman. 



