The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-07-08

they tunnel their way through the
bark and into the wood Of the tree,
In the tree the maggot lives as a
maggot for three years and at length
transforms to the pupa and perfect
states in it's burrow. Finally it issues
forth as a winged insect through a
hole previously gnawed for this pur-
pose through the bark.
REMEDIES.
The old remedy of "plugging the
hole" is useless and absurd, for the
hole plugged is that through which
the insect has escaped after doing Its
damages. The plugging of the en-
trance hole will do no good as 1t IS
soon plugged anyhow by the castings
of the maggot. Probing the burroW
with a sharp tipped wire is a good
and generally effectual remedy II done
during the winter or early spring. At
this time the maggot lies torpid some
where near the lowermost part OF the
burrow. The parent beetle may be
prevented from laying her eggs on
the trunk by smearing the trunk with
soft o or tar, and keeping the
smeared part moist during June.
The beetle dies only at nigh and may
be easily trapped By means OF Ian,
tern traps in the orchard.
There is another borer, the FLAT
HEADED BoRER, which attacks the apple
also, but the same treatment viii au-
swer for both.
THE EACH BoRER-Aegeria eritosa.
The mischievous peach borer is the
larva of a small day flying moth which
is cen during June and July, Like
the apple borer, this insect deposits
her eggs on the trunk of the tree near
the ground, but the maggot inste4d
of boring upwards as in the other
case, bores doOnW1rds into the root,
and by injuring the root does more
rapid and i~rreparable damage than
does the apple borer. The peach
borer lives in the root for one year and
comes forth from it as a perfect winged
insect.
REMEDIES.
Smearing the base of the tree with
soft soap or tar, and probing the
tunnel with a sharp wire are the most
generally practiced measures. In Hi
nois peach growers successfully en-
pIoy the "mounding" system, al fol
lows: When the tree is three or four
years old the earth is banked up a
foot high around the base of the
trunk and tramped hard. This pre-
vents the insect from laying her eggs
so near to the root, and the maggots
not having very powerful jaws, are
not able to bore their way down to
the root. EIch succeeding spring the
mound is increased three inches to
cover the holes made by the worms
of the year before. By the time the
mouad reaches the height of three
feet the tree has ouclived It's usefulness
and is cut down.
The peach borer attacks also the
cherry and plum. A closely related
species attack the pear, but the same
treatment will answer for all these.
THE PLUM CURCULIo-C0n0hache7us ne
nuphar.
The notorious ~curculio attacks the
plum, nectarine, apricot, peach and
apple, and its preference is in about
the order given. Its trade mark is
the well known crescent and dot. The
dot shows where the egg is, and the
purpose of the crescent is that the
grub beneath may not be crushed by
the contrac ion of the rind during the
growth Of the fruit. The curcuIio is
a small blackish, yellow spotted and
humpbacked beetle, about one fifth
inch long besides the snout. 1t
passes the winter in the perfect or
"inged state; hidden under piles of
trash in the orchard, or of leaves in
neighboring woods, Or under shingles
Of roofs, or where it can find a hiding
place. 1t comes forth about the time
Of the blossoming of plums. The
beetle lays her eggs singly on the
plum or other fruit, and the eggs
hatch out in a few days. The worms
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full gro Tn. Their presence usually
causes the plum or other infested fruit
to fall before ripe. When the worm
is full grown it comes out of the fruit
and burrows into the ground where it
transforms 10 the pupa and winged
states and finally comes forth to lay
eggs for the second brood of worms.
REMEDIES.
Spraying the fruit with Paris green
has often been employed with good
results, but more frequently with
failure. The plum being a smooth
fruit, does not hold the poison and the
first rain or even dew washes it off.
Plum and peach leaves are cas- ly
scorched by London purple, and this
should not be used upon these trees.
OF all remedies the most practicable is
Earring the beetles from the trees
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