No. 4.] THREE SHADE-TREE INSECTS. 241 



downy woodpecker and the flicker feeding upon white larvae 

 taken from beneath the bark of maples infested by this 

 borer, — presumptive evidence that these birds feed upon 

 this insect. 



Remedies. 



The application of remedial treatment for borers is gener- 

 ally attended with considerable difficulty, since the insects 

 cannot be reached by insecticides, and in the case of the 

 maple borer, as with many allied beetles, hand labor is the 

 best means for destroying the pest. An examination of the 

 infested trees in September will reveal small discolored spots 

 on the trunks, showing where the larvse have commenced 

 feeding. Masses of fine brown castings are often found on 

 these spots. By the use of a sharp knife the larvae may be 

 dug out and killed, while the burrows of the older larvae 

 should be followed and the inmates destroyed. All exposed 

 wood, whether living or dead, should be thoroughly coated 

 with a thick lead and oil paint, to exclude the air and pre- 

 vent decay. Dead branches should be removed and the 

 stumps painted. Where the trees are badly infested it may 

 be advisable to prune severely, for with a limited and weak- 

 ened sap circulation they cannot properly support the normal 

 amount of foliage. 



The preceding suggestions apply chiefly to the treatment 

 of infested maples which serve as shade trees. In the case 

 of an infested sugar orchard it would be impossible and im- 

 practicable to give the trees the same degree of care, and 

 here the main dependence must be placed upon preventive 

 measures. If one will take the trouble to look over a num- 

 ber of sugar orchards, he will find that the ones most afiected 

 by the borer are those in which the underbrush and smaller 

 trees have been cut, and the writer would suggest that here 

 we have an explanation of the increase of this pest in the 

 sugar orchards of western Massachusetts. Brush and under- 

 growth in a sugar bush interfere with the gathering of sap at 

 the season of sugar making, and the practice of " clearing 

 up " sugar orchards is one growing in favor with the owners 

 of the orchards. Where maples have grown with trees of 

 other species, and with a thick forest cover, the trunks are 

 usually free from branches to a considerable height. When 



