172 
[June, 
Fig. 1. 
How the Sap Circulates in the Trunks of 
Trees. 
In the town of Yonkers in this State, a few 
years since (in 1855), after a severe winter, the 
bark of some six or eight trees in a young or¬ 
chard was found split down perpendicularly. 
The trees were not properly attended to, by 
binding the bark to the trunks and closing the 
cracks with cement of some kind. In the course 
of the summer they all died but one. This tree 
lived and flourished; the bark, however, sepa¬ 
rated from the trunk and formed a roll upon one 
side, being attached to the sound parts of the 
tree above, and to the root below. Fig. 1, rep¬ 
resents the appearance of the tree at this period. 
The edges of the bark grew together and wood 
was deposited on the interior of the roll. The 
second year it flourished, the bark trunk becom¬ 
ing firm and woody, and the third year it 
fruited, the naked trunk decaying rapidly, so 
that it was necessary to support the top artifi¬ 
cially. Finally the old trunk decayed altogeth¬ 
Fig. 2. 
er, and the tree, when we last heard of it, pre¬ 
sented the appearance shown in fig. 2. In this 
interesting case we have a demonstration of the 
received doctrine in regard to the functions of 
the wood and bark. The injury to the tree hav¬ 
ing taken place in the winter, the sap wood 
through which the sap rises in the spring was 
still capable of performing its functions. The 
sap ascended through the naked trunk, was 
elaborated in the leaves, and returning, it passed 
down the inner film of the bark, depositing the 
new inner bark and young wood within the 
bark roll, much as if nothing had happened. 
By the time that the action of the weather had 
dried and unfitted the old trunk for a sap chan¬ 
nel, there was a new channel already formed 
within the bark, showing most conclusively 
that the new wood is a deposite from the bark 
and independent of the old wood. 
PEELING APPLE TREE TRUNKS. 
There is a practice, precisely the reverse of this, 
sometimes employed to give old apple trees new 
bark. It depends upon the fact that when the 
new bark and the new wood are first formed, 
they are easily separated from the bark, by 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
which they are deposited, but adhere more firm¬ 
ly to the wood. If about the 20th of June the 
bark be removed from an apple tree without in¬ 
juring the trunk (which will appear entirely 
naked, but is in fact covered with a delicate tis¬ 
sue, conducting the sap as it descends,) a new 
smooth bark will rapidly form. The time at 
which this is performed is very important, as a 
few days too soon or too late makes the opera¬ 
tion a fatal one to the tree. We have known 
trunks of trees which were called hide-bound, 
or bark-bound, the bark of which was full of 
insects and covered with moss, thoroughly 
cleaned, and by this process clothed anew 
with the smoothest most beautiful bark we ever 
saw. The general health and condition of the 
tree was greatly improved, so that they respond¬ 
ed to manuring and became again fruitful. We 
can not, however, recommend the practice, as it 
seems hazardous and may be so in reality. # 
The Buffalo Tree-Hopper the Cause of 
Scars on the Twigs of Fruit Trees. 
By Asa Fitch, M. D., Entomologist to the N. Y. State 
Agricultural Society. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
From the cuttings of cherry twigs which you 
sent me, and from information which I previous¬ 
ly possessed, I draw up the following account of 
a malady in the twigs of fruit trees, of which 
no published notice has hitherto appeared, that I 
am aware. In Winter or Spring a peculiar kind 
of crack or scar is sometimes observed on the 
twigs of apple, cherry and other trees. It ex¬ 
tends lengthwise of the twig and is from £ 
inch to 2% inches long. It occurs on twigs that 
are nearly or quite i inch in thickness, and 
two or more of these scars are frequently seen 
along the same twig. Their P’"'face is slightly 
elevated above the level of the oarlc, has a rough, 
cankered appearance, and shows a deep crack 
along its middle, in which crack a row of small 
holes is more or less distinctly to be seen, ex¬ 
tending the whole length of the scar. On split¬ 
ting the twig it is seen that these holes are bored 
down into and almost through the soft pith in 
its center, in a slanting direction, and that each 
hole is somewhat bent or curved and is occupied 
by the egg of an insect. The eggs are shining, 
yellowish white, cylindrical with rounded ends, 
and four times as long as thick—their length 
being a little more than the 1 
tenth of an inch, and exactly 
filling the holes for about two 
thirds of their length. In a 
scar 2£ inches long I count 55 
eggs. And now, what insect 
is it that makes these wounds ? 
Some years ago I found wil¬ 
low twigs in my own vicinity 
wounded in this manner, but 
the holes in the scars were BuffaI ° Tree-Hopper, 
empty, the insects having hatched and left them. 
In the Spring of 1858, the twigs of apple trees 
at Akron, O., were very much injured in some 
orchards by wounds of the same kind. The 
malady excited the attention of H. W. Howe, 
Counsellor at Law, of that place, who sent me 
specimens of the wounded twigs, and some cor¬ 
respondence thereupon followed between us. 
On learning how much of a novelty these wounds 
were, and that the insect making them was un¬ 
known, he devoted particular attention to this 
subject, and at length was so fortunate as to de¬ 
tect the culprit in the very act of piercing these 
holes, and specimens of it were thereupon sent 
to me. It is thus to Squire Howe that we are 
indebted for knowing what insect it is which 
causes these wounds and the manner in which 
it makes them; and in justice to him I ought, 
ere this time, to have made his interesting dis¬ 
covery known to the public. This insect is 
so common through the northern , 
States and Canada, and has such a t 1 
peculiar form that it has at some jf'* 1 
time been noticed, probably, by ev- I i. I 
ery person who has his eyes open. 
It begins to be seen soon after the 
middle of July, and remains until 
the end of the season. It is from 
three to four tenths of an inch long, 
of a light grass green color, freckled 
rather faintly with whitish dots, and 
is shaped like a leech nut , with two 
short sharp-pointed processes, like 
horns, jutting outward in front, one 
on each side, giving its forward end 
some resemblance to that of a bull 
or buffalo. Hence it has received 
the name of the Buffalo Tree- 
hopper, or Cercsa bubalus , as it was 
scientifically named originally by 
Fabricius. It pertains to the Ho- 
mopterous division of the order Ee- 
miptera, and to the family Membra- 
cidce. This insect may frequently be 
seen standing on the small limbs of 
the apple-tree, the locust, and other 
trees in our orchards and yards, 
with its head towards the base of 
the limb. It remains perfectly mo¬ 
tionless and quiescent; but if the 
finger approaches it, with a sudden 
strong spring it darts away with a twig wound- 
such velocity that the eye is seldom ed by Buffal ° 
able to follow it, or even perceive lee ' Hoppu - 
the direction in which it has thrown itself. 
The piercer , lancet , or ovipositor —the instrument 
with which the insect perforates the holes in the 
twigs—closes into its sheath, much as the blade 
of a pocket knife does into its handle. It is 
plainly to be seen thus closed in a groove, which 
is at the hind part of the body on its under side. 
To perforate a hole, this piercer, as Squire Howe 
is held obliquely downward and for¬ 
ward, or like a knife blade a quarter opened. 
Being in this position and with its point pressed 
against the bark, it is by a forward movement of 
its body that the insect draws or thrusts it down¬ 
ward through the bark and soft wood and into 
the pith. An egg, no doubt, is then passed into 
the perforation, as the implement is being with¬ 
drawn. The wounds which are thus made are 
scarcely perceptible at first, but become more 
and more conspicuous with age. It was the last 
of September when Squire Howe discovered the 
insect at this work, and some of the wounds 
then on the twigs he judged from their appear¬ 
ance had been made a month earlier. 
The eggs remain in the twigs through the 
Winter and hatch in the Spring. They do not 
produce worms, but small active insects which 
have some resemblance to the parents in their 
shape, though they are destitute of wings and of 
the hard shell-like covering which they acquire 
when they become fully grown. They wander 
away from the twigs as soon as they are born. 
Both the young and the perfect insects nourish 
themselves by puncturing and sucking the juices 
of the leaves or of the new tender bark of the 
twigs. They are thus pernicious to the vegeta¬ 
tion on which they occur, as well as by wound¬ 
ing it to insert their eggs. And in seasons when 
these Tree-hoppers are noticed as being so com¬ 
mon as to excite fears of injury to our fruit 
