Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1905-04-12
THE Peach Tree Borer.

hnrarS-an lHScSt jim VI lis
Dolr bores into the LOVER part of the
stua, Of he peach tree and which in SO
auar.+fnr does a e-aat deal of harm.
who creature W ich thus appears is
aoios of motu. Stamina exitiosa.
ami the fact that If 5 so in possession
80 +ho Tree may be hnown by the large
oran+irios of gum eXuded. Every tree
thns affected should be suspected to be
- ,ho service of this enemy.
rro moth to be held responsible for
tho business appears most numerous
" IN August and September" The
fon,oIa is 'of a steel blue color, with
i. Triaht yellow band about the middle
a. me body. The male is of a grayish
c9or.
+ho wings more or less transparent;
49,, giycs them a close resemblance
to certain wasps, and such is especially
Mo ease with the male. The re-
SomhIance is rendered all the more
striking by the fact that these moths
e., n The hottest days of summer"
rho mating and laying Of eggs may
he assumed to be in progress soon
afr The moths are about; the eggs
hoins. as indicated. getting deposited
SON rhr trunks Of the trees at. OF near.
+rn surface of the ground. Within 4
voal the eggs hatch into small white
ca+nyniIllrS. which at once bore i'll
tlrougll the bark to eat out the inner
borh and sap-Wood.' Here they stay
until full grown, doing much damage
Ia the tree-in fact, killiuG thousands
OF trees every year.
Most OF these borers reach full
growth in the spring after they are
Matched. They, the larvae, leave the
tree when they are fun grown and spin
20. .,ns under the surface of the earth
Al within an inch or two of the stem
OF tree.
"I) ring the summer II may easily
6nd the cocoons by searching for them
iIit the gum and earth around the bases
of the stems. They are Il little over an
inch in length. and are usually covered
with bits Of dirt. chips and the like"
Soon the larvae becomes a'pupa, and
IL two weeks the moth appears and
the life-sJory repeats itself,
How is this enemy OF the peach tree
NOS successfully fought? 1t is soon
after being Matched inside the bark.
ard 50 is beyond the reach of poisonous
applications by spraying. Experience
sd 5 Lat the moths must be kept from
til trees. tct if not they will act in
accoraance With their in stincts, and
tpe' : bolers are to be destroyed
W te they .rs in the trees.
TA&" IL NAT WorlnIng by hanG
ias to be - and so with all the nee
essary Ca if the object sought is t.
be really accomplished. In the present
part of the job the 'earth is removed
to a depth of two or three inches. The
gum which is thus exposed is scraped
away with a knife. and the injured
bark cut off at the burrows. In these
burrows the larvae must be found and
They are stout bodied. with
brownish-yellow heads"
1t is necessary for a desirable out
that the person entering upon
this work should be instructed in every
detail. \ stout knife is needed. Some
times it is found we'll "to have a short
piece of strong wire by means of which
larvae are reached when they are
deep in their burrows as to be out
reach of the knife"
That no unnecessary work may be
done, it is to be noted that "there are
very slender, white worms,
are often found in the gum
from the base Of injured trees"
These are not the larvae of the peach
tree borer. The slender white worms
under these circumstances in no
way injure the trees. To give any
to killj7g them is wasteful.
The peach tree borer may most adj
vantageously he attacked any time dur
winter. The month Of March is
regarded by many as the best month
for the purpose. Some of the leading
growers of peaches prefer to worm
twice each year." They thus get many
Of the borers before these have had
time to do much damage. "This is, of
course, an advantage, but if trees are
wormed once thoroughly each winter
and kept mounded during the summer,
one worming will usually be suf-
fcient."
Regarding the devices introduced to
prevent the moths from laying eggs, 1T
IS thought that though there may be
merit among these devices, it yet is ad-
vised that the principal dependence
be still upon a thorough yearly sys-
-em of worming by hand and mound
And now as to this mounding part.
The instruction is that latter the trees
nave been worlned in late winter, earth
be banked up against the stems
o a height of four or six inches above
he level of the ground.
This compels the moths to lay their
Eggs high on the trunks, where the
arvae can be reached when the time
comes for worming. About Thanksgiv-
ng Day the mound is removed, as all
have then been deposited, and by