THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



103 



at the meetings of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, but in the end without avail, for 

 while it was admitted that such a condition 

 injured the various animals themselves, and 

 tended to render them permanently sterile, yet 

 it was alleged that if they were in low or 

 only tolerable order, persons could only vaguely 

 conjecture, and not at all know, the degree of 

 their aptitude to secrete fat evenly and deposit 



it on the most valuable parts. 



# # # # # * 



I remain, my dear father, ever yours, 



FRANCIS R. RIVES. 



Prom the Farmer and Planter. 

 THE PEACH TREE BORER. 



It is desirable to destroy all insects that in- 

 fest fruit trees, especially the one at the head 

 of this article. And this end is easily attained ; 

 if we are to give credence to all the remedies 

 recommended for that purpose, there are as 

 many plans to effect this object, as there are 

 cures for the toothache. They are applied with 

 about the same success, unless the same re- 

 medy is used in both cases, viz: extraction, 

 which is the only effectual one. 



My purpose is to give only such remedies as 

 I have tried, with my observations and expe- 

 rience on the same. But before doing this, it 

 is perhaps necessary to give some account of 

 the parent insect — a slender, dark-blue, four- 

 winged fly, resembling a wasp. Downing's 

 work on Fruit and Fruit Trees, states, that 

 this insect commences depositing its eggs in 

 the tender bark of the tree at the surface of 

 the ground the last of J une. I think it makes 

 its appearance at the South sooner, and con- 

 tinues its operations until October. The egg 

 hatches and produces the borer, which pene- 

 trates and devours the bark and sap wood en- 

 circling the tree, which causes its destruction. 

 The insect continues in the tree during winter, 

 forms its cocoon, and comes out in the spring- 

 in its winged form, and commences depositing 

 its eggs for another generation. I have taken 

 the cocoon and kept it until it assumed the 

 winged state. 



The Remedies I have Tried. — No. 1. Down- 

 ing and others, recommend forming low heads; 

 this is done by topping trees when small, which 

 causes thern to branch out near the ground — 

 this shades and keeps the ground moist and 

 cool, thereby preventing the attacks of insects, 

 &c. 



No. 2. By driving nails in the roots, which 

 with the sap of the tree forms a salt of iron, 

 thought to be destructive of the borer. 



3. Downing recommends a peck of air slaked 

 lime or leached ashes to each tree. 



4. The manual operation, viz : extracting. 



5. The Prevention. — This is done by raising 

 hillocks around the tree before the parent in- 

 sect makes its appearance, and removing them 

 at the commencement of cold weather. 



Observations on the Remedies. — No. 1 is 

 objectionable on account of the roots being 

 shaded and kept moist. This makes the bark 

 more tender about the roots, thereby rendering 

 it more susceptible to the attacks of insects. 

 The first trees I set out, I pursued the course 

 of low heads. By this method the limbs are 

 so near the ground that it makes it very incon- 

 venient to apply remedy No. 4, which is essen- 

 tial, and will be described in its order. All 

 trees which I have set out recently, I have 

 trimmed to four or five feet. This pruning 

 should not all be done at one time, as it will 

 cause the tree to grow so slender that it will 

 not be able to sustain the top. Limbs ought 

 to be left along the stock for the purpose of 

 diverting the sap, which will have a tendency 

 to give strength and a gradual slope to the 

 stock. As soon as this object is attained, the 

 limbs should be cut close and smooth from the 

 trunk. By this course with the shortening-in 

 process, a handsome tree may be formed. 



2 failed entirely, besides causing wounds from 

 which the gum oozed out, injuring the tree. 



3 also failed. I have applied both ashes and 

 lime to my trees, and find that the worm will 

 work even among these substances (the opinion 

 of Downing and others, to the contrary not- 

 withstanding.) The truth of my assertion was 

 proved with the former by the following fact : 

 A tree standing near my ash -hopper, with ashes 

 frequently unleached all the time around it. 

 This tree would have been destroyed by the 

 worms if I had not taken them out with my 

 knife. Ashes or lime applied in small quanti- 

 ties are good fertilizers to trees, but applied 

 in large quantities will cause a rapid tender 

 growth, more susceptible to the attacks of the 

 borer. 



4 is the only effectual remedy for getting rid 

 of this blight to the peach orchard, when it is 

 once lodged in the tree. To effect this remove 

 the earth from the tree, the work of the enemy 

 will be found by his eatings, and the gum oozing 

 from the tree; find the cavity and follow it 

 with the knife until the worm is destroyed. 

 This may be denominated the cure. 



"But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 



5. Prevention. — The 1st of November scrape 

 away the earth and expose the roots to the ac- 

 tion of the frosts for at least three months, 



