THE CULTIVATOR 



occurs in the wasp. It is cylindricftl and as thick as 

 an ordinary siiod load pencil, and about an inch and a 

 quarter long, of a black color more or losa varied with 

 brownish yellow in different individuals, the wings be- 

 ing smoky blackish and shining. In the female, the 

 abdomen hiis six light yellow bands, the forward one of 

 which is much the broadest, and all the others are in- 

 terrupted on the middle of the back. Hcrovipositor is 

 formed of very coarse horny bristles which arise from 

 the middle of the under side of the abdomen and pro- 

 ject backwards like a tail, reaching a quarter of an inch 

 beyond its tip. With this apparatus slie is able to bore 

 deep into solid wood to depo.iit her eggs. The grubs 

 which hatch from these eggs are white, fleshy, footless 

 cylindrical worms, with a deeply impressed line or fur- 

 row on each side beneath, extending their whole length ; 

 and the hind end is furnished with a small sharp-point^ 

 ed black horn or hook which curves downwards. By 

 these marks they may readily bo distinguished from 

 other borers in timber. They grow to more than an 

 inch in length, and to the thickness of a lead pencil. 

 They feed upon the wood, gnuwinglong slightly curved 

 holes. They are placed so deep in the wood, that they 

 cannot thrust their castings out of their burrows, as 

 many other borers do. Hence their burrows are fdled 

 and densely packed with this dry powder, and e.\ler- 

 nully there are no indications by which to know that 

 these worms are present in a tree, unless the holes hap- 

 pen to be discovered out of which those which have 

 completed their'transforniations have crawled. 



Dr. Harris states that ho has found these insects in 

 pear trees, in elm, and in button-wood. I have found 

 thom in maples much oftenor than in any other tree, 

 and have also met with them in beech ; and in Illinois 

 ft female was captured depositing her eggs in the burr 

 oak. It is therefore probable that they infest all our 

 forest trees, except perhaps those of the pine ond spruce 

 family. The wood in which we meet with these insects 

 is always in a decaying state, and some per.'ions have 

 hence supposed that it is only trees which are old and 

 beginning to decay, to which they resort. But I have 

 taken the female depositing her eggs in thrifty young 

 maples and oaks. It is therefore evident that they at- 

 tack timber which is perfectly sound, speedily reducing 

 it no doubt to a decaying state. When they once make 

 a ledgmcnt in a tree they continue to infest it more and 

 more, until it is dead and so much decayed that they 

 arc obliged to abandon it and repair to other trees. At 

 the moment of my copying for the press this line, a 

 person informs me ho lately mot with what I presume 

 was one of these insects, in a majile log, its cell being 

 just large enough for it to bo crowded into it, and there 

 being not the least indication of any passage or triwk 

 by which it had come to this spot. The log was split 

 up by him for fire-wood, and was perfectly sound in 

 every part, and no other insect or worm was found in it. 

 As the eggs of these insects are sunk so deep in the 

 wood, and the larva) work into it still deeper, it seems 

 out of our power to administer any relief to a tree 

 which becomes infested. Its gradual decay and death 

 probably cannot bo averted. Whether it is possible to 

 impregnate the sap and wood of the tree with any alka- 

 line, mercurial or other substance which will destroy 

 those insects without injuring the tree, the present state 

 of our knowledge docs not enable us to say. The best 

 thing wo can do, is, to make ourselves acquainted with 

 the female Tremex, and whenever one of them is found 

 around the trunk of a tree, or in any other situation, 

 capture and destroy her. Whore these insects are found 

 to have made a lodgment in a valuable tree, it may 

 perhaps be possible to arrest their career by winding 

 the trunk and larger limbs with straw or matting, to 

 such a thickness that the femalo will bo unable to reach 

 through it witb her ovipositor to place her eggs in the 

 wood. Those grubs which are already lodged in the 

 tree, on completing their transformations, will probably 

 out their way out through such covering, but will bo 

 obliged to select some new situation for thoir progeny. 

 The knowledge of this insect which we at present pos- 



sess, is too imperfect to enable us to give anything more 

 than mere suggestions with regard to remedial measures. 

 The reader is aware that the wood borers generally, 

 like most other injurious insects, are destroyed and 

 their undue multiplication prevented by other insects 

 which prey upon them. But we should expect that the 

 Pigeon Tremex, lying as it does deep in the solid wood, 

 would be quite beyond the reach of any parasitic or 

 predaceous enemy of this kind. And yet, if it wore 

 so, and this species were allowed to increase and extend 

 itself unchecked, such numbers would soon be genera- 

 ted that it is probable all the trees in our forests would 

 become infested and destroyed by them. And we ac- 

 cordingly find that He who created this insect and gave 

 it the interior of the solid wood for its abode, knew how 

 to create another insect furnished with a suitable ap- 

 paratus for piercing deep into the wood, to reach and 

 destroy this one. Tho mode in which this parasite of 

 the Tremex works its long tail-like ovipositor into the 

 wood is very curious and has never yet been accurately 

 described. To give an intelligible account of this in- 

 sect, and its singular organs and the mode in which it 

 u.'ics them, would extend this article to an undue length, 

 and we will therefore be obliged to devote a future 

 uumber to this subject. AsA FiTca. 



Kiln for Drying Fruit. 



KniTons Country Gent. — I noticod in your paper 

 of Feb. 13t,h, an inquiry for a kiln for drying fruit, and 

 in reply will describe one I have. In the summer of 

 1855 I was building a smoke-house, 5 by 6— the foun- 

 dation of brick three feet above the ground for the 

 purpose of depositing ashes — the top of wood, extend- 

 ing six feet above the brick work, with an arch on one 

 side of the brick work three ftet long, two wide, in 

 which to moke the smoke. While erecting I inquired 

 of my mason if he knew of any good plan for a kiln 

 dry 1 He replied that he did not, but suggested that 

 I could soon convert my smoke-house into a good one 

 by putting a stove into tho arch ; and upon his sugges- 

 tion, when finishing my building I made three doors in 

 front, and put in strips of board 10 inches apart, on 

 which to sliile the drawers — putting in the middle one 

 temporarily, to be removed when used for smoking. 

 Had three tiers of draws, six in a tier, making eigh- 

 teen in all. 



I put a box stove in the arch, conducted the pipe 

 around horizontally, then up to the chimney, leaving 

 an aperture through the wall into tho building some 

 six inches in diameter larger than the pipe, so that the 

 heat from the stove would naturully pass into the 

 room. I also had sliding doors in tho gable, so that 

 the circulation would be brisk when the kiln was first 

 filled, which doors could be closed when the fruit be- 

 gan to dry and tho escape of moisture become less. 



My drawers I made of strips of boards as follows — 

 18 ichcs wide— 4J feet long — 4 inches deep— cut gains 

 with a saw deep enough to receive a stout twine, half 

 an inch apart — put on the warp first, and then wove in 

 the filling with a long wire, nailing on a strip of lath 

 over tho twine to prevent wear, and to keep it in its 

 place. 



When apples became fit to dry, we prepared them 

 by cutting the quarters once or twice in two, according 

 to the size of the apple — (care must bo taken to havo 

 the pieces as near of a size as possible) — and filled our 

 new kiln-dry^ and were well pleased with the result. 

 We found wo could put in seven bushels at once very 

 nicely, and requiring from 24 to 36 hours of time to 

 cure. When they came ont they were white and crisp, 

 and by lying in a pile a few days they would absorb 

 moisture enough to pack nice, and when packed will 

 keep without any fear of being oaten up by worms, if 

 not consumed the oitmo season. 



Apples thus dried are far superior to those dried in 



