198 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



be required, and it is a matter of great moment to the farmer whether 

 he is obliged to supply this from his garden, his field, his orchard, 

 and his woodlands, or whether they obtain their subsistence from their 

 own resources ; therefore he should be enabled to distinguish between 

 those which are beneficial, and those which are injurious, in order 

 that he may treat the one as friends and the other as enemies. Among 

 the latter, one of the most hurtful and dangerous to his interest is the 

 apple tree borer, the Saperda bwittata, of Say. This insect, which is 

 most destructive to the apple and quince orchard in its secondary 

 stage, is probably well known to every agriculturist, in the shape of 

 a yellowish white grub about half an inch in length, with a small 

 blackish head quite hard and horny ; it is destitute of feet and moves 

 by contracting the rings of its body. It bores upwards from the 

 root of the tree or the base of the larger branches (where the egg 

 had been laid) nearly one foot, during the two or three years that it 

 remains in that stage, and about the first of June, directing its hole 

 outwards, it undergoes its second transformation, concealed only by 

 the bark ; then the beetle gnaws its way through, comes forth and lays 

 its eggs in turn for the production of another generation. In this last 

 stage very few recognize it even if they see it upon the tree. This prob- 

 ably arises from the fact of its going through all its transformations 

 in the night and remaining concealed among the leaves during the 

 day. The best description of it will be found in " A Treatise on 

 some of the Insects of New England which are injurious to vegeta- 

 tion," by Thaddeus William Harris, M. D. He says : " The upper 

 side of its body is marked with two longitudinal white stripes between 

 three of light brown color, while the face, the antenna;, the underside 

 of the body, and the legs are white. This beetle varies in length 

 from a little more than one-half to three-quarters of an inch." The 

 modes of destroying this pernicious insect are various, but the three 

 following meet with most favor. Fistly, killing by repeated thrusts 

 from a wire inserted into its hole ; the wire may be crooked at the end 

 or barbed like a fish-hook, and so bring forth the grub on its with- 

 drawal. Secondly, cutting it out with a knife or gouge ; but these 

 must be used with a due regard to the safety of the tree, or the remedy 

 may prove worse than the disease. Thirdly, pushing a fragment of 

 gum camphor into the hole and then plugging up the entrance with 

 soft wood, has been recommended ; in this method the bark for an 

 inch or less in diameter should be removed by a sharp knife where 

 the infallible signs of its presence are detected in the shape of a small 

 heap of reddish saw dust adhering to the bark. Any of these means 

 if thoroughly and carefully attended to, would produce a correspond- 

 ing benefit in the orchard, but owing to the insidious cViaracter of 



