238 SUCCESSFUL FRUIT CULTURE 



the eggs. Also as the leaves turn down the mites may 

 be seen on the outside, where many of them may be 

 killed by a ten per cent kerosene mechanical emulsion. 



INSECTS ATTACKING THE PEACH 



Peach Borer (Sanninu exitiosa) — In some years 

 this insect is very destructive, while in others it can 

 scarcely be found. When abundant it is a serious pest, 

 one larva being able to girdle a tree three inches in 

 circumference. The perfect insect lays its eggs on the 

 trunk near the ground in May or June according to the 

 locality, and the larva works its way into the inner bark 

 and sapwood, feeding over a space amounting to an inch 

 or more in diameter. If it works in a direct line it 

 will nearly girdle a small tree. Its presence may bo 

 known by the gum containing its chips or droppings 

 that exudes where the injury is made. Sometimes 

 several larvae may be found in a single tree. The larvae 

 feed through the summer and in the fall make a cocoon 

 of soil, chips and gum near where they had fed and 

 come out perfect insects the following season. 



Remedy — A great many washes have been sug- 

 gested to prevent the entrance of the larvae or to kill 

 them as soon as they hatch out, but none of these have 

 been found effectual. The only remedy that can be 

 relied upon, and it is the cheapest in the end, is to 

 examine the trees twice each year, in June and in 

 August, and dig the borers out. It is but the work of 

 a moment to draw the soil away from the trunk of the 

 tree for three or four inches and if there is any gum 

 exuding and this gum contains the chips of the borers 

 the injured parts should be followed until the larva is 

 found and destroyed. If no gum exists or if there are 

 no chips in the gum the soil may be drawn back, as 

 there is no insect there. After a borer has been dug 



