The Peach. 



95 



Peach basket. 



•a hexagonal base (Fig. 33). To enable the picker to use 

 both hands, one of these baskets may be slipped into a ring 

 strapped about the waist. The basket, 

 when filled, is replaced by an empty one 

 to avoid pouring the fruit from one 

 basket to another. 



120. Insects and diseases. The most 

 harmful insects are the plum curculio 

 (99) and the peach-tree borer. Among 

 diseases, the yellows, rosette, leaf curl, 

 *' little peach " and fruit-rot (101) are most serious. 



121. The peach-tree borer {Aegeria excitiosa). The 

 female of this insect lays her eggs on the bark near the 

 surface of the ground, from the latter part of May until the 

 end of August, the time depending much upon the locality. 

 The larva penetrates the bark and sap wood of the root, 

 causing a copious exudation of gum about the base of the 

 tree, which reveals the presence of the insect. 



Preventive measures. The larvae may be cut out with a 

 knife late in the autumn or early in spring by removing 

 sufficient earth about the base of the tree. After this the 

 tree may be banked up with earth to the height of a foot 

 or more late in the spring, or toward mid-summer in the 

 northern states. The mound should be leveled off in Sep- 

 tember, after egg laying has ceased. Protecting the trunk 

 with straw, tied upright about it and extending a few inches 

 below the surface of the soil, has also been recommended. 



122. The yellows is the most dreaded disease of the 

 peach. It has destroyed many peach orchards and almost 

 annihilated peach culture in some localities. Its infallible 

 indications are premature ripening of the fruit, accom- 

 panied by small, bright-red spots upon the skin, and pur- 



