Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-07-09
The Apple Tree Borer.

II
What may be accomplished in the wa!
OF Kidding an apple orchard Of the round
headed apple tree borer has been mos
strikingly demonstrated by the Main'
Agricultural Experiment Station at High
moor Farm.
The borer is q legless larva or grul
which measures about an inch in length
when grown, is cylindrical in form, ligh
yellow in color, with darker head. Tht
| first intimation that the fruit grower maj
have of its presence is in the retarded
growth of his trees, and the sawdust-likt
castings which the larvae extrude from
the openings of their burrows, which arr
in the main trunk, usually quite close tt
the ground.
The parent of this borer is very hand
some beetle, about S4 of an inch II
length, cylindrical in form, of pale
brown color above, with two broad
cresmy-white stripes running the whole
length Of its body; the face and under
surface are hoary-white, the feelers and
legs are gray. The females are larger
than the males, and have shorter feelers
The eggs are deposited In late spring OF
early summer under the bark. The
larvae, soon after Matching, tunnel under
the bark and feed on the sap-wOod,
gradually remaining within q short dis.
tance of, or below, the surface of the
ground, particularly In young trees. BY
the end OF the second year the larvae are
in the solid heartwood, their burrows be.
ing closely packed behind them with the
castings. The third year they guaw out.
ward to the bark, pupate, and late in the
spring emerge from the trees as mature
beetles.
After the borers have once entered q
tree, there is no practicable means OF
control, other than the systematic ex-
animation of each tree aud the removal
of the larvae. Their presence, as afore-
said, is indicated by the dark yellow
brown, sawdust- like castings, quite moist
when fresh, at the point where they have
entered the tree. Where such castings
are found, it remains simply to follow
them up by cutting through the bark
along the line of their burrows until the
grub itself il reached and killed.
The extent to which these burrows
should or can be opened is influenced
entirely by the age of the larva in each
case, for upon this depends the distance
it has already worked towards the center
of the tree. Practice soon teaches
whether the grub can be reached with a
moderate amount of cutting. When it
il inaccessible without too great re-
moval of wood, piece of strong brass
wire is thrust into the burrow, and BY
turning and pushing forward 1t Is work
ed through the innermost channels,
where the larvae are stabbed to death.
This method, while not so certain a
means of extermination, has proved IN
practice to be eminently successful and
is to be recommended wherever the pre-
limiuary examination does not find the
grub comparatively near the surface.
1t is generally good plan to examine
the trunks for an inch or two below the
surface of the ground by sorsping the
earth away from the trees to that ex-
tent, as in some cases the borer works
down into the roots.
The trees at Highmoor Farm we're in
tested with this pest to an extreme de-
gree at the time the farm was purchased.
A thorough campaign in 1910 along the
lines described, going over the orchards
twice during the season after the period
of egg laying, has resulted in Kidding the
trees of borers to such an extent that but
one systematic examination was neces-
sary the past season.
The small mesh wire netting, extend
ing Is or 20 inches above the ground,
which is used on young trees to protect
them from mice. will be helpful in guard
ing against the deposition OF eggs by the
female beetle In the spring. Another
method is to wrap few thicknesses of
newspaper loosely about the trunk
and extending upward about 2 feet
from the base. This covering should be
tied, by preference with cord, which will
readily yield or break with the natural
expansion of the tree in its growth, and
also be tightly fastened at the top and
bottom and hilled up with earth so that
the beetles cannot obtain access to the
tree from below. From the top OF this
covering, upward, it is best to use some
deterrent alkaline or carbolated wash
CHAs. ID. WOODS, Director, Orono, Ne.