THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



147 



succeeded in finding anything but their empty 

 shells. 



As soon as hatched the little borers bury im- 

 mediately into the bark, and for some time lie 

 concealed under a follicle of thin epidermis 

 immediately beneath the surface. At that period 

 of their existence they are exceedingly minute — 

 mere threads, with one end apparently some- 

 what enlarged — and can be destroyed with a 

 slight scratch of the knife, or even the finger 

 nail, without the least injury to the liber or 

 inner bark of the tree ; and after the course of a 

 few weeks, the spot where a young borer has 

 been found and killed in this manner will be no 

 longer noticeable to the eye. This is the period 

 during tvhich I always aim to destroy the borers 

 on my trees, and it is but seldom, and by mere 

 accident, that a few escape to grow to a largei- 

 size. 



The intelligent observer may, by dint of 

 practice and close attention, soon learn, as 1 

 have done, how to discover almost at first glance 

 the place where a newly hatched borer lies con- 

 cealed. A small drop of brown fluid, resem- 

 bling tobacco-juice iu color, usually reveals its 

 presence, for at that early stage of its develop- 

 ment the well-known sawdust-like excretions 

 characteristic of the full grown larvae must not 

 be looked for. 



The easiest and surest way to destroy these 

 borers is by washing the stem of the tree, from 

 the base to the crotch, with some alkaline solu- 

 tion ; but in order to prove efficient, this must 

 be done before they are large enough to have 

 eaten their way very deeply into the bark. I 

 have therefore found soap-suds a very valuable 

 auxiliary in the persistent warfare I have waged 

 against the borers. After trying various com- 

 pounds, I now prefer to use a simple solution 

 made from hard or soft soap, thinned out to a 

 proper consistency by the addition of a strong 

 brine of salt and tobacco stems. I do not ad- 

 vertise this remedy as a preventive, because my 

 experiments with several nauseous drugs, in- 

 cluding aloes, sulphur, assafretida and lime, 

 have led me to the conclusion that the olfactory 

 nerves of the female Chrysobothris (that is, sup- 

 posing that these insects are endowed with the 

 sense of smell, a fact which entomologists have 

 failed to make apparent) are proof against all 

 nauseous odors. I have repeatedly found freshly 

 laid eggs, and even young live borers just 

 hatched, on trees that had been washed but a 

 few days before with a solution of assafietida 

 and aloes ; and besides, a few heavy dews, or a 

 , rain shower, will not fail to remove all traces of 

 \ the strongest alkaline wash. 



I 



But although probably not a preventive, the 

 solution I have indicated is a cure ; for it will 

 instantly and infallibly kill every borer that has 

 not j)enetrated so deep under the bark, or into 

 the wood, as to be beyond its reach. By per- 

 forming the operation three or four times on all 

 the trees iu the orchard, the first time during 

 the mouth of June, and the last from the middle 

 to the end of August, and extracting with the 

 knife a few borers that may chance to escape 

 the penetrating eflects of this wash, 1 know, 

 from a satisfactory and most conclusive personal 

 experience, that an orchard can be kept entirely 

 free from these insects. 



As I have stated before, the Flat-headed 

 Apple-tree Borer invariably attacks the south 

 and southwest sides of the trees, and is only 

 found on the eastern or northern sides in excep-' 

 tional cases. While I admit that the insect 

 appears inclined to prey upon feeble and diseased 

 trees that suffer from the elfects of old wounds, 

 sun-scald or neglect, I must at the same time 

 remark, that it is an error to suppose that it 

 will spare healthy, smooth trees. All the trees 

 in my own orchard are, without exception, 

 thrifty and vigorous, entirely free from bruises 

 or sun-scald, and as large of their age as any I 

 ever saw ; yet half of them, at least, were at- 

 tacked by the borers last summer. 



The usual course with a large proportion of 

 apple trees planted of late years in Missouri is 

 the following : Trees received sound and in good 

 condition from the nursery are attacked the 

 second or third year after being set out in the 

 orchard rows. When small, they are not seldom 

 girdled around their entire circumference by the 

 borers, and die outright. Many of those which 

 survive come out of the encounter wounded and 

 sadly worsted, and lead a lingering existence 

 for a few seasons. The sun scalds the raw, open 

 sores on their south side, and the persistent 

 attacks of the borers, added to neglect and want 

 of cultivation, increase the evil from year to 

 year, until the trunk becomes sun-scalded and 

 seared from top to bottom, and the tree finally 

 dies. This has proved to be the fate of by far 

 the greater half of all the apple trees planted in 

 many portions of Missouri during the past ten 

 or fifteen years, and it could be obviated by a 

 little intelligent labor and care. 



Although the Plat-headed Borer evinces a 

 manifest i)artiality for the various sub-varieties 

 of the Pyrus nialus and Pyrus baccata, as well 

 as for our own indigenous crabs, it must not be 

 imagined that it disdains other food. I have 

 found these borers preying upon the Pear, 

 though seldom; occasionally upon the Mazzard, 



