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BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the forest cover is suddenly cut off and only the maples are 

 left standing these trees soon become weakened, as a result 

 of the altered conditions. It is a well-recognized fact that 

 sickly trees are the favorite victims of borers of all kinds, 

 and the maple is no exception to this rule. The clearing up 

 of sugar orchards also allows the sunlight to penetrate to a 

 greater extent than before, and the borers, being sun-loving 

 insects, doubtless find a greater number of attractive places 

 in which to lay their eggs. During the past five or six years 

 the writer has had several opportunities to examine the sugar 

 orchards near his home at Huntington and in other parts of 

 western Massachusetts, and has seen repeatedly the clearing 

 up of orchards followed by extensive damage by this borer, 

 and is led to believe the matter is simply one of cause and 

 effect. 



Remedial measures may be briefly summarized as follows : 

 for infested shade trees, cut out the borers in September, 

 prune if necessary, and cover all exposed wood with thick 

 paint. In sugar orchards, allow as much forest cover as is 

 consistent with the work of sap gathering. In both cases 

 cut all badly infested and dying trees and burn them before 

 midsummer, thus destroying the insects they contain. 



The Oak Prune r.* 

 From an entomological stand-point the summer of 1896 

 was marked by an unusual abundance of the oak pruner in 



Fig. 3. The Oak Primer, a, larva; 6, side view of same; c, pupa. (From Packard.) 



eastern and central Massachusetts. The red oak suffered 

 most severely, but the white and scarlet oaks were not 



* Elaphidion villosum Fabr. 



