THE PEACH AND NECTARINE. 



515 



and afterwards destroyed. Any sort of hollow 

 tubes, such as bean-stalks or the hollow stems 

 of Jerusalem artichokes, are excellent traps for 

 them, if stuck amongst the branches ; the sweet 

 pith entices them into these, as well as the ob- 

 taining shelter from the sun : from these they 

 may be blown into a pot of water. They also 

 take shelter between the folds of paper, in moss, 

 under rags, or, indeed, in any dry covering. 

 There is no easy mode of preventing them from 

 ascending the walls or espaliers to feed upon the 

 fruit, but several ingenious contrivances are in 

 use, fitted with water, oil, or tar, placed round 

 the stem of the tree, which effectually prevents 

 then- ascent by creeping up (vide Dahlia in 

 Flo WEE Garden) ; but as they are furnished with 

 wings, none of the latter prevent their ascent 

 by flying. The trapping system is the best, and, 

 if persevered in, will soon rid the trees of their 

 intrusion. The earwig often attacks the blossoms 

 of the peach tree as well as those of flowering 

 plants ; they have been destroyed in vast num- 

 bers by mixing oxide of arsenic with flnely- 

 pounded loaf-sugar and wheaten bread, rubbed 

 finely dovm in equal parts, and placed in hollow 

 tubes distributed over the trees. 



The figure of 8 moth, Noctua {Episema) cceruleo- 

 cephala Autor, Bombyx cceruleocephcda Linn., of 

 all trees prefers the peach, almond, and apricot. 

 For figure, description, &c., of this garden pest, 

 see page 443. 



The peach or poplar saw-fly (Tenthredo populi 

 Linn.), in general appearance and at a little 

 distance is not unlike the common house-fly, 

 but somewhat larger, and, like all hymeuopte- 

 rous insects, has four wings. The greater part 

 of the body is black, but towards the abdomen 

 whitish square incisions appear, extending from 

 both sides towards the middle in almost parallel 

 lines. The palpi and tibiaa are yellow, as are 

 also the feet; thighs black; antennae simple and 

 jointed. The fly makes its appearance in April, 

 about the time the leaves first come forth. The 

 female lays her eggs at different times, to the 

 number of thirty or forty, which she arranges in 

 rows on the surface of the leaf. The process of 

 hatching occupies only a few days if the weather 

 is fine, and from them a greenish-white grub is 

 produced, and these shortly after spin them- 

 selves a web, under which they take shelter. 

 They soon after their birth commence devour- 

 ing that portion of leaf after leaf which best 

 suits their palate, for, like some other insects, 

 they never consume the entire leaf. Their 

 period of grub existence extends to five or six 

 weeks; they present the appearance of light- 

 green grubs with black heads, having three pairs 

 of fore-feet and one of hind ones. When full 

 grown they drop to the ground and form for 

 themselves a dark-brown covering or case, and 

 in this they remain an inch or two under the 

 surface of the earth until spring. The best 

 mode of subduing this injurious insect is to 

 gather off the surface-soil under the trees, parti- 

 cularly along the bottom of the walls, and have 

 it charred or burnt. This should invariably be 

 done as soon as the leaves have fallen. The 

 pale yellow eggs may also be easily detected in 

 spring, immediately after they are laid on the 



points of the young leaves ; as they are laid 

 pretty closely together, great numbers of them 

 may be thus destroyed. The trees, when much 

 infested by this insect, present the appearance 

 as if they were covered with cobwebs. The 

 specific name Populi is not very appropriately 

 given to this insect, which has led Mr Westwood 

 to remark, that there must either be consider- 

 able diversity in its habits, feeding as it does 

 at one time on the poplar and at another on the 

 peach and apricot, or the specific name must 

 have been applied improperly — and if so, it 

 should be changed to prevent confusion. 



More than one species of Aphis attack the 

 peach-tree foliage, whether in the peach-house 

 or on the open wall. A. rumicis, one of the 

 commonest of the genus, was last autumn 

 (1853) unusually numerous and destructive, and, 

 in consequence of its appearing at the same 

 time as the cholera, has been supposed by some 

 to have an intimate connection with that dis- 

 ease, and hence has been denominated the cho- 

 lera-fly. The Entomological Society has, how- 

 ever, lately decided that the hot, moist, stagnant 

 state of the atmosphere which prevailed during 

 the end of September and beginning of October, 

 and which was favourable to the spreading of 

 that disease, induced also an extraordinarily 

 rapid development of the Aphis rumicis, as well 

 as of other species of the genus, the winged fe- 

 males of which attacked the leaves of the peach 

 to a much more than usual extent, stripping the 

 trees of every leaf even before the fruit was 

 ripe. Some entomologists, however, assign 

 one particular species (A. persicce) as peculiar 

 to the peach and nectarine. Fumigating with 

 tobacco is the usual and most effectual mode of 

 clearing the trees or houses of them. This re- 

 medy should not be delayed until the insects 

 make their appearance, nor should fumigation 

 take place during the flowering of the peach. 

 A slight application administered once or twice 

 before the flowers begin to expand has been 

 often known to keep the trees free of them 

 during the season. The aphides which appear 

 on the peach, like all others of the tribe, are 

 produced from eggs laid during the previous 

 autumn ; the succeeding broods, as we have 

 elsewhere remarked, are viviparous, and are 

 produced with inconceivable rapidity. The old 

 practice, therefore, is good, of washing the 

 young wood, and scrubbing the old branches 

 during winter with water, as by that means 

 many of the eggs are removed. It appears to 

 be of little consequence whether clean water be 

 used, or that into which soft-soap, tobacco li- 

 quor, &c., has been incorporated ; for neither 

 can have any effect upon the vitality of the 

 eggs. Friction alone removes them. As they 

 take shelter about the material by which the 

 trees are secured to the treUis or wall, it is well 

 to remove and burn these annually. They also 

 find shelter in the trellises, and about the 

 chinks in the walls ; it is well, therefore, to paint 

 the one and colour the other with hot lime- 

 wash before forcing commences. If laying on a 

 mixture of sulphur, snuff, hot lime, &c., making 

 them adhere by means of soft-soap to the 

 branches, be of advantage, it must be attributed 



