180 



THE iJyiEEICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



MOUNDING PEACH-TREES. 



There is a considerable amount of evidence 

 that, by maintaining a permanent mound of 

 earth — say a foot and a half or two feet high — 

 round the but of full-grown, good-sized peach- 

 trees, the peach-borer can be entirely or al- 

 most entirel}'- excluded from trees of this size, 

 although not from young trees — say under four 

 years old. Without ourselves offering any defi- 

 nite opinion on this practically important ques- 

 tion, we propose to furnisli our readers with the 

 facts and arguments that have been adduced on 

 either side of the question. 



In common with the rest of the Fruit-growers' 

 Excursion Party, we were enabled, through the 

 liberality of the I. C. K. E., to visit in October, 

 1868, the extensive xoeach orchard of the Messrs. 

 Winter Brothers at Duquoiu, in South Illinois. 

 Tliey have 6,000 large, full-grown trees in their 

 orchard, and in 1865 commenced mounding them 

 up about two feet high, tlie crotch in such of 

 them as are low-headed being now completely 

 covered with earth. Before mounding they 

 wormed their trees ; and in such as are moun- 

 ded they now find no worms to signify, although, 

 as they informed us, in certain trees near the 

 house that have never been mounded there are 

 X)leuty. We ourselves could see no signs of any 

 Avorms in any mounded trees, although several 

 genuine peach-borers were dug in our presence 

 out of two uumounded trees, that immediately 

 adjoined the part of the orchard that liad been 

 mounded, and exhibited at the first glance the 

 usual gummy exudation indicative of worm- 

 work. It is proper to add, that the Messrs. 

 Winter Brotliers keep about one hog to the acre 

 in their orcliard to pick up the fallen fruit, by 

 Avay of heading off the Curculio; but that, ac- 

 cording to them, it is but very seldom that these 

 animals root into the mounds round the buts 

 of the trees. 



At the meeting of the Illinois State Horticul- 

 tural Society in December, 1868, Mr. B. Pullen 

 of Centralia, Illinois, personally informed us 

 that he finds the mounding system an effectual 

 remedy against the Peach-borer ; but that it is 

 no use until the trees are about four years old. 

 Up to that age, he depends upon the knife. He 

 banks up his trees about ten inches high, and 

 packs the earth tightly against the but with the 

 loot. He once mounded up some very wormy 

 trees — so wormy indeed that a few of them con- 

 tained each from forty to seventy larvK, so that 

 he was afraid of girdling and killing them if he 

 went to work at them with the knife. Contrary 

 to what might have been expected, however, 



these trees did well; and there have been no 

 worms to be found in them since. 



As, in cases of this practical importance, it is 

 often necessary to add line upon line and pre- 

 cept upon precept, wc shall subjoin here what 

 has been said upon this same subject by Mr. 

 Pullen, in the columns of the Western lluml: 



As Spring will soon be upon us, I wish to adtl my tes- 

 timony ill I'avor of the "Banking System" as a pre- 

 ventive against the peach-borer. As to its ettleauy 

 there can be no doubt. I lune practiced it lour years 

 with complete success. I wonkl not advise its adoption 

 until after the trees are four years old. During most of 

 this period the bark is tender, and trees are liable to be 

 entirely girdled by even a single worm. Safety lies 

 only in personal examination and removal with the knife, 

 in Fall and Spring, (September and April). In April of 

 the fourth year, bank up to the height of from ton to 

 twelve inches, pressing the dirt finufy around the tree. 

 A little dirt should be added each successive Spring. 

 It is not only a pre\enti\'e but a great saving of labor. 



Centralia, III. B. Tullen. 



So much for the cxiierience of Illinois poacli- 

 growers. We shall now furnish the reader willi 

 the details of the mounding system, as practiced 

 in Ohio, from the pen of a correspondent of 

 the Journal of Agriculture — Mr. E. A. Thomp- 

 son. The letter will be found in the Journal of 

 November 14, 1868, and it will bo observed that, 

 contrary to the belief of Mr. Pullen, it recom- 

 mends the system to be applied, not only to old, 

 but also to young trees. 



Hillside, (near Ciuciiina.|.i) , November I(!, ISOS. 



The mounding system was first practiced, so far as I 

 know, by Is.aae Bolmar of Warren county, Ohio. I 

 visited his orchards some years ago — aeciuaintcd iiiyscU' 

 with his system— and concluded to try it upon my or- 

 chard of 4,000 trees— then one year planted. Iplantmy 

 trees in the fall, and in the spring following cut them 

 back to six inches above the bud. TJie tree then in- 

 stead of having one body has several — from three to si.v. 

 The second summer I plow both ways, turning the fnr- 

 rows toward the trees . The men follow with shovels, 

 throwing the loose soil around the tree to the heighth 

 of about one loot. In the fall I cut the trees back, 

 taking off about one-third of the year's growth. Tlie 

 next spring or summer I pursue the same method, 

 raising the mound about one foot higher; cut back in the 

 fall, and the third summer repeat the process, raising 

 the mound another foot, which finishes the joli. The 

 mound will then be about three feet high at its apex 

 and six feet in diameter at its base. The mounding 

 need not be done in the summer, or at any particular 

 season; it is just as well done in the fall when the hurry 

 is over. The dirt is never taken away from the trees — 

 in fact it can not be removed without injury to tlie tree 

 — for the young rootlets each year keep climbing up 

 through this mound. I had occasion to remove one of 

 these mounds a few days since and found it a mass of 

 healthy roots. 



Now for the benefits . First you have no trouble witii 

 grub or borer ; he must have light and air, and the mound 

 is too much for him; he comes out and that is the last of 

 him. I have never wormed my trees, or hunted for the 

 borer, and an orchard of healthier or thriftier trees can 

 not be found. It has been asserted that the borer will 

 re-appear again near the top of the mound— but I am 

 satisfied this is not the case; I have never thus far been 

 able to find one. Second, the system imparts longevity 

 to the tree. I saw a tree in AVarren county treated in 

 tliis manner, thirty (30) years old, still healthy or bearing 

 annual crops. Third, trees thus treated are not subjec 

 to disease. I have never had a case of yellows in my 

 orchard. Fourth, the expense is trifling— one man can 

 mound fifty trees per day. The system can be applied 

 to old' as well as young orchards; but if old trees are 



