Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-04-05
THE AGRICULTURIST.
Can we Save our Pruir Trees from sns
WOrmsf e-

" "a NJ THE aARDEE TIE HOUSE OIL
Can we save our Pruir Trees from sn
WOrmsf
In the EOEtksrn Homestead of the Goth uIt. appear
communication from Dr.. +. II. GospoS. of Smitl
county one Of the most intelligent prac.IcaI favmay
IN the state n regard to the preservation of frui
trees IRON the raysges of the borer, which WI
transfer to these columns entire, as follows:
Msssrs- Efitors We have had published in th,
| agricultural journals line upon line and nTecan
upon precept in regard to the peach borer MAJ
writer has given his plan, and talked consdentIs
of its success yet our trees de- Very few trec,
live to be ten years cid. But few remain healtb1
| long enough to bear single crop Of wholesome
fruit. By the time most young peach trees get Oh
enough to bear full crops their foliage assumes !
sickly appearance and their fruit is scarcely worth
gathering. e-ss- s.ses
But as before stated we are taught that there ar,
many sure remedies. One direction is TO scraps
away the earth from around the trees, spring ant
fall, and cut the worms out with knife, or push
wire into the track of the worm and kill him, or 4
pour boiling water around the tree and scald thl
worms. Mr.. Van Buren,, of Georgia, directs US <
coune bag Of salt in the fork OF each tree, to kil
or ward of the worms. The preventives are mounds
Of earth heaped up around the roots Of the trees
every spring, which are TO be scraped away IN thE
taii. Leaehed ashes packed around the roots i
another preventive. Tansy planted around the
root Of the tree is another prentive. Others still
nave been suggested Win any one, or all these
remedies and preventivesi preserve our trees in
At intervals, for week, have been earnestly
engaged in digging around old trees, and digging
up young trees from the nursery, and in searching
out and destroying boring worms. Let US see what
q week practice and study has proven, as to the
value Of remedies. Let Us take an illustrative case.
Here is peach tree four years old. Il bore fruit
LAST year. The earth is dug and scraped away all
around down to the side roots. Masses of glue the
evidence of worms are attached TO the bark This
scraped off, shows holes in the bark With knife
the bark is cut of along over the groove between
the bark and the wood made by the worms. Sew
eral worms are found and destroyed nearly on
level with the surface of the ground. But here Is
hole leading downward. The bark Is cut away
over this channel worm track, following il away
down below the side roots still going down the tap
root, lower than can go without cutting away the
side roots and perhaps killing the tree. Bat some
writer tells me to push wire down this groove
and kill the worm. Another tells me to pour
boiling water among the roots and scald the
worm. Let us see how these viii kill him.
With the spade and hoe, dig and take away
the dirt and take away the lateral roots, till
the tap root is in full view. now follow the
groove made by the worm, cutting away the bark
over it, TIL this groove winds around to the oppo-
site side, and then forks one branch turns upward
and the other downward, and large worm is found
or wire reach these worms, without cutting roots
and damaging and perhaps killing the tree How
could boiling water destroy these worms, without
digging and cutting roots and then boiling the roots
of the tree? iaff& ~ EEs =
On the opposite side of the tree, q mass of glue
is found. When scraped Off several small holes
are visible. By pairing away thin slices of the
bark we come to small worms as we 90, which
have not all got through the bark. These worms
might be killed with no. water or by the knife as
E,~
and kill sll of them! Could all these worms have
been reached and destroyed by any process. that
would not greatly damage the tree. To my mind.
they could not All these remedies will do good
and be completely successful where circumstances
are favorable but they must all fail in many cases
have lately dug from the nursery and planted
about hundred young peach trees. Nearly every
one had worms in its root. A gocdly number had
the worms low down in the tap root in the lat
eral roots where wire, knI:e or bot water could
not have reached or destroyed them, without mutl-
lating the roots, so as to damage and perhaps kill
the trees. Then we have sure remedy after the
worms get in the roots. Our chance is TO keep
them out. We need sure preventive Can one be
found? viii mounds of soil, ashes or tansy around
the trees keep away the parent of the boring worm
fly winged insect deposits the eggs, which soon
matches the worm during the summer months Du-
ring last year, examined many trees surrounded
by tansey which had borers in them. For many
years have depended on leached ashes packed
around the trees. This is a good preventive, but
will sometimes fail, as is shown by several of nv
trees thisspring Nor can it be supposed that soil
heaped around the tree would do better, even
well.
We find in the American TURNER'S ESaeyoIopedia,
preventive recommended by Br. Harris, the author
of treatise on destructive insects. He recommends
that in the spring. the earth be seraped away from
the tree, and the borers be destroyed with knife
and wire. Then pack clay mortar over the wound
ed parts and wrap pastebosrd around the tree wide
enough to extend from two inches below the sur
face of the ground eight or ten inches upward.
Pack mortar made of dirt around the lower end of
the pasteboard and then I'll up with soil. Tie
strings around so as to conne the pasteboard to the
rec, and wrap strip of mating fused by nursery
men in graftng) around the top end of the paste
board and around the tree, 70 close it up COM
,letely.
The object of this pan is to cover completely the
portion of the tree where the fly is prone to deposit
Is eggs. And covering which has no holes or cracks
or the insects to get in will answer equally weI
provided shall leave the bark of the tree to perform
ts natural function. This plan has good sense in it,
md indeed Dr. Harris states that it has proven to
be completely successful 1t must be repeated every
;pring There is some labor and attention in the l
,Ian, but no one need now expect to hays good /
peaches without attention. shall try it, and hope
'thers will do the same and report 70 the Homestead
lext Spring. rsa
Some ssven or eight ofmy young apple trees have
,een pierced by the apple tree borer, and two of /
hem are killed. shall whitewash the bodies Of my
-oung trees with lime, and may report the result in
he future. If any one knows sure preventive for /
he apple tree borer, he viii do service to me and
thers by publishing it F. II. GORDON.
jennings Fork, Tsnn, March, 1861 .
We have no suggestion Of our own TO offer in re-
ponse to the inquiry of DR.. GORDON, but perhaps |
ONE of our readers who are large fruit growers |
nay be able to offer some valuable suggestions. In
, ok thaI
experiences of Mr.. SnAs MCDOWELL, communicated
y that gentleman to the CinoiInatss. He says:
{" l promised you a chapter, showing way to
ave apple trees which are completely girded round
" that fatal scourge of the orchard, the borer In
he first fourteen years after planting my apple or
hard lost more than a hundred trees by the
epredations of that hateful worm, and then found
ut way to save my trees winch he had gnaWed
nuud since which discovery it is ten years and in
IL that time have never, from his mischief lost
inqe tree nor expect ever to lose one. l. in fact,
egin rather to like him. as he has given me so many
Inc subjects on which to show my skill on horticul.
ural surgery, and many of the trees which found |
irdled entirely round, and the top completely cut /
# from the circulation of the sap from the roots,
lshowed Mr. Ongley, are now as thrifty and vigor>
us trees as are in my orchard y
"Butth he mode of operation by which effect this |
esult is as follows scrape back all the soil from the
irdled tree down to the roots, which leaves the |
sounded part and the worms in gIrde four inches
boye the roots. then pass 3 strong, sharp knife
Trough the bark Of the roots, and make q clean |
ertiee cut up the tree for ten inches, through the
ark. crossing the belt Of worms, and ccntiAuing |
ato the bark above the wound. j thus pass round |
he tree dividing the bark into sections of two or
hree inches wide, according to the size of the tree
now see to it, that ell worms and their litter are
emoved, and then have ready some thrifty water |
prouts which cut into sections to correspond with
he length of the vertical sections in the bark. I
these point at each end BY gentle slope from the
ark on the one side to that the other, and then
one of these ends between the bark and the wood
ext to the root of the tree, with the cut part |
estng on the wood of the tree aud the other end |
eaching two or three inches above and across the /
irdled part, is nicely inserted under the bark and
ach cut end now rests upon the albumen or young |
apwood, which it takes up at the root, and as /
nct conveys across the section where the bark IS
discovered from the tree. circulation of the sap
ow takes place. You pass round the tree in this
way, oonfning the bark above tho girdle and below
! upon the ducts with string; then make mouno
q earth round vonr tree IN reach above all gnlS,