STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 89 



■wood, aud you will be more likelj- to fiud them thau iu the e^^or stage, 

 until you get pretty expert. This is the time to take them; too mauy 

 wait until they throw out the large chippiugs aud have done a large 

 amount of damage. I think it is the second season iu which they do the 

 most damage, working between the bark and the sap wood and cutting 

 oft the sap wood. 



Prof. Harvey. I meant that they did the most boring the third year. 

 You know that the life of the tree, the circulation of the sap, is on the 

 outside. The heart of the tree is practically useless. Trees grow by an 

 annual layer of wood aud the growth of each year is between the bark 

 and the wood of the previous year. Of course any injury to that would 

 do the most injury to the tree. The greatest damage would be done 

 ■where the insect is working in the sap wood of the tree just beneath the 

 bark. 



Ques. Have you received Bulletin No. 11 from N. J., which speaks of 

 some kind of a paste being spread on the trunk of the tree? 



Ans. I have not received the Bulletin, but I know the poiut to which 

 you refer, and that is this : — you can sometimes put a wash upon the out-' 

 side of the tree, generally some alkaline wash, which is distasteful to 

 those insects, aud thej' will come around to your orchard aud find the 

 trees all covered over, and perhaps go over to j'our neighbor's trees aud 

 lay their eggs instead of laying them in yours. 



Then, again, I have heard people in the State declai-e that they could 

 prevent their trees from having the borers by putting some rough mit- 

 tens on their hands and rubbing the trunk at certain seasons of the year, 

 around the base of it. Xow if Mr. Pope's observations are correct, that 

 this insect lays its eggs iu little holes or openings, you can see that those 

 eggs would be entirely bejond the reach of anj^ external rubbing. I have 

 had persons declare to me that they could keep their orchards free from 

 borers in that waj% but I have fancied they were located in sections 

 where there were no borers. Just how the eggs are laid, just how many, 

 etc., are points that are not entirely cleared up yet. There are some 

 points regarding this matter that need investigation. It is the general 

 belief that the eggs are laid upon the outside of the trunk or in little 

 crevices, and that the insects do not make a hole. We cannot take any- 

 thing for granted in the study of these insects. What we want to do is 

 to see one of those borers lay its egg and see exactlj' how it is done, 

 just as 1 watched the fly as he punctured the skin of the apple. We must 

 be very careful about these little points, because a great deal may depend 

 upon them. To see one thing, and to see another thing, aud put the two 

 together, may not be sufficient, as there may be a step between those 

 that will give an entirely different view of the subject. 



There is another borer which I would like to call j-our attention to, 

 which is called a flat-headed borer. This beetle, you see, has a coppei' 

 color, with two or three brighter copper colored spots upon the surface. 

 This borer is a day-flying insect. It loves the sunshine and you will find 

 it about trees iu the dav time. It is a verv warv insect and verv hard to 



