264 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Kiefler pear tree in thrift and beauty. Its propensity for early bearing is such 

 that it loads in the nursery rows, bending the limbs with the weight of the fruit 

 until they sometimes break. The fruit is large, showy and beautiful ; color 

 amber, turning to rich bright cherry, with a decidedly white bloom and high 

 perfume ; flesh, light yellow, and exceedingly juicy, tender and sweet ; free 

 stone; excellent for canning: season very early, ripening in advance of other 

 plums." 



Mr. S. 1). Willard, of Geneva, New York, writes concerning it : " I have 

 fruited this plum for four or five years and find it hardy and productive, of fair 

 quality, and well received in the markets. I do not think it equal to the 

 Burbank in productiveness, or to some of the sorts of the Japan in quality, but 

 its very beautiful appearance causes it to take well in the city markets." 



Mr. VanDeman, Chief of the United States Department of Pomology, says 

 of it : " This plum is of medium size, that is among the Japanese plums, being 

 fully as large as the larger of our common cultivated plums (Prunus Domestical), 

 heart-shaped, of very good quality and, I think, hardy over a large part of the 

 United States. Color, greenish-red." 



FIGHTING APPLE BORERS. 



Prof. Forbes, Illinois State Etomologist, makes the following timely sugges- 

 tions in reference to fighting apple borers : 



1. Preventing the Laying of Eggs. — This is best accomplished by washing 

 the trunk and the larger branches of the tree three or four times in summer, 

 with a strong solution of soft soap, to which has been added a little crude 

 carbolic acid. The soil should be evenly smoothed down about the base of the 

 tree, so that the mixture may reach the lower portion of the trunk where the 

 round-headed borer is apt to lay its eggs. Washing soda added to the soft soap, 

 until the whole is of the consistency of thick paint, is also thought to make an 

 excellent wash for repelling the beetles. In Ontario the first application should 

 be made early in June or about the middle of May, and succeeding applications 

 at intervals of about three weeks. 



2. Destroying Eggs and Larva. — This should be done in August, Sep- 

 tember, and October. By a careful examination of the trees during this time 

 the eggs and young larvae may be detected, and by the judicious use of a knife 

 they may easily be killed. If the ground is smoothed off about the young trees 

 early in the season the insects in the lower part of the trunk are more readily 

 reached ; or an excellent way is to compel the beetles to lay their eggs where 

 they can be easily reached, by mounding the bases of the trees either with sand, 

 which is best as it does not crack open and allow the beetle to deposit below 

 the surface, or with ordinary soil. According to Hon. J. W. Robinson, for 

 many years a successful orchardist in Central Illinois, one man can usually 

 examine and kill all eggs or borers in five hundred or more trees per day. 



