AFPLE ORCHARDS— NO.' 7 , 
75 
■to the spot I was surprised to find a little stream di¬ 
vided into many branches, and meandering amongst 
the roots of the newly-planted trees. As there 
was no stream there before, I went up to examine 
its source, and found that it had been led from a 
neighboring ravine ; a work more easy than car¬ 
rying a large supply of water in buckets, and at the 
same time more effectual. 
APPLE ORCHARDS.—No. 7. 
Attack from Borers. —The apple tree, as well as 
the quince, mountain ash, June berry, and various 
species of thorns and aronias, are attacked by the 
larvae of the two-striped saperda (Saperda bivittata, 
Say), denoted by the adjoining figure. The upper 
side of the body of the perfect 
insect is marked with two longi¬ 
tudinal white stripes between 
three others of a light-brown 
color, while the face, the an¬ 
tennae, the under side of the bo¬ 
dy, and the legs, are white. 
This beetle varies in length 
from a little more than one hall 
to three fourths of an inch. It 
comes forth from the trunks of 
the trees early in June, making 
its escape in the night, during 
which time only it uses its am¬ 
ple wings in passing from one tree to another in 
search of companions and for food. In the daytime, 
it keeps at rest among the leaves of the plants on 
which it feeds. In the months of June and July, 
the females deposit their eggs upon the bark of the 
trees, near the roots, and the larvae, or borers, hatch¬ 
ed from them, consist of fleshy whitish grubs, with¬ 
out legs, nearly cylindrical in their form, and taper¬ 
ing a little from the first ring to the end of the body. 
The head is small, horny, and of a brownish color. 
The first ring is much larger than the others, the 
next two very short, and, like the first, are covered 
with punctures and very minute hairs. This grub, 
with its strong jaws, cuts a cylindrical passage through 
the bark, and pushes its castings backwards out of 
the hole, while it bores upwards into the wood. It 
continues in the larva state two or three years, 
during which it penetrates eight or ten inches into 
the trunk of the tree, its burrow at the end approach¬ 
ing to, and being covered only by, the bark. It is 
in this situation that its transformation takes place, 
which is completed about the first of June, when 
the beetle gnaws through the bark that covers the 
end of the burrow, and comes out of its place of 
confinement in the night. One of the oldest, safest, 
and most successful modes of destroying this borer 
is, to thrust a wire into the hole it has made ; or, 
what would probably answer as well, to plug it up 
with soft wood. 
Attacks from Coccidce, or Bark Lice. —Young apple 
trees, and the extremities of the limbs of older trees, 
are very much subject to the attacks of a small 
species of bark louse ( Coccus *****?) The 
limbs and smooth parts of the trunks are sometimes 
completely covered with these insects. They meas¬ 
ure about one tenth of an inch in length, are of an 
oblong-oval shape, gradually decreasing to a point'' 
at, one end, and are of a brownish color, very near 
to that of the bark of the tree. There is also an¬ 
other species of coccus, which inhabits the apple 
tree, differing from the one above mentioned in seve¬ 
ral important particulars. It is one of the kind in 
which the body of the female is not large enough to 
cover her eggs, for the protection whereof provision 
is made, consisting, in this species, of a kind of 
membraneous shell, of the color and consistence 
almost of paper. In autumn, .and during winter, 
these insects are seen in a torpid state, and of two 
different forms and sizes, on the bark of the trees. 
The larger ones measure less than a tenth of an inch 
in length, and are in the shape of a common oyster 
shell, being broad at the hinder extremity, but taper¬ 
ing towards the other, which is surmounted by a 
little oval, brownish scale. The small ones, which 
are not much more than half the length of the others, 
are of an oblong-oval shape, or almost four-sided, 
with the ends rounded, and one extremity is covered 
by a dark-colored, minute, oval scale. 
On examining the trees early in the spring, the 
females may be found, in a lifeless state, fastened 
close to the bark, having been fixed in this position 
ever since the year before. A little later in the 
season, their bodies become more distended, and on 
carefully removing them, numerous eggs will be 
found beneath them. At this period, the internal 
parts of their bodies appear to be dried up and dead, 
their outer skins only remaining, which serve as 
shields for protecting their future progeny. On 
the approach of the heats of summer, the larvse are 
hatched, and escape at the lower extremities of the 
shields, which are slightly elevated or notched at 
these parts. In this stage of their existence, they 
usually have the appearance of small, oval, roundish, 
or oblong scales, of a brownish color, and much in 
the shape of their parent shields, but thinner, more 
flattened, and of a paler color. At first, they are 
full of activity, disperse themselves over the young 
shoots and leaves, puncture the tender parts, exhaust 
the sap by suction, and increase in size, till they 
prepare for change. In the early period of theii 
growth, their heads are completely concealed be¬ 
neath the shells of their bodies ; their beaks or suck¬ 
ers appear to proceed from their breasts; and their 
legs, which are six in number, are so short that they 
are not visible from above. When they have com¬ 
pleted the larva state, they prepare for transforma¬ 
tion by emitting from the under sides of their bodies, 
numerous little downy threads, by which they 
securely confine themselves to the bark. After 
becoming thus fixed, they remain, for a time, in a 
torpid state, and under these inanimate scales, the 
transformations of both sexes take place. The 
outer coverings of the males serve as cocoons, from 
which they appear to shrink and become detached. 
In the course of time, they push themselves out of 
their shells, at the little fissures at their extremities, 
and appear in their perfect form, having two wings, 
which lie flatly upon their bodies, but no beaks, as 
they had previous to their transformation. In a 
few days after the females fasten themselves to the 
bark, they contrive to burst, and throw off, in flakes, 
their outer coats, and betake similar forms as those 
which they before assumed, and enter into the pupa 
or chrysalis state. When mature, they retain theii 
beaks or suckers, and are wingless, but are destin¬ 
ed never to change their places after they have once 
become fixed. In this condition, their bodies are 
