Eighth Report of the State Entomologist. 185 



The Shaker Peach-tree Borer Wash. 



The following is the recipe of the wash in use by the thrifty Shakers 

 of Shaker Station, Hartford Co., Conn., which has been sold for past 

 years at three dollars, hut has recently been communicated to the Neio 

 England Homestead: 



Fish oil, 3 pts.; soft soap made from wood ashes, 3 pts.| whale-oil 

 soap, 2 lbs.; powdered sulphur, 2 lbs. .Mix the oil with the whale-oil 

 soap, beating the lumps up thoroughly into a perfect emulsion. '1 hen 

 add the soft soap and, after mixing this thoroughly, stir in the sulphur. 

 The more perfect the mixing is done the better. These ingredients can 

 be obtained at almost any country store, and ought not to make the 

 cost more than sixty cents the gallon. One man can mix a barrel and 

 apply it to five hundred trees in a day. The application should be 

 made every spring from May loth to June 1st, in latitude 42°. 



Preparatory to applying the above, it is recommended to remove 



with care, by the aid of a wooden trowel and broom, the ground for 



about a foot from the trunk, so as to lay bare the base and main roots. 



Examining them after three days, if any borers are present, they will 



be discovered at a glance by the oozing gum and their excrements or 



borings, and can be easily cut out with a sharp knife. After which, 



apply the compound w T ith a paint brush to the cleaned roots, and up 



the trunk for eight or ten inches above the surface of the ground. 



Sprinkle on all the powdered sulphur that w r ill adhere, and return 



the ground. 



Mounding. 



This method of protection is highly esteemed by some peach- 

 growers. It is done by throwing up around the base of the 

 tree, at any time before the deposit of the eggs, a mound of earth of 

 about a foot in height, and pressing it closely to the trunk with the 

 foot. In the following years, a few inches may be added annually. 

 By this means the roots of the trees where they are given off from the 

 trunk, are placed out of reach of the insect. The mounding is 

 believed, also, to have a beneficial influence on the health of the trees, 

 in prolonging their period of bearing and exempting them from 

 disease. It has been claimed that this method has given entire exemp- 

 tion from the borer attack, at the cost of a very little labor. 



A New Tree-Protector. 

 A model of a device has lately been shown me which pro- 

 mises to give complete protection for young trees from the 

 attack of the peach-tree borer. A cylinder made of fine wire 

 netting, about fifteen inches high, mounted on a galvanized metal base, 

 gathered in at the top so as to adjust itself closely to the tree, opens at 

 one side for passing it around the trunk, and is then secured and 



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