The apple tree borers have destroyed thousands of trees in New England, and are likely to destroy thousands more. There are three kinds of borers which assail the apple tree. The round headed or two striped apple tree borer, Saperda candida, is a native of this country, infesting the native crabs, thorn bushes, and June berry. It was first described by Thomas Say, in 1824, but was probably widely distributed before that. In his "Insects Injurious to Fruit," Prof. Saunders thus describes the borer:

"In its perfect state it is a very handsome beetle, about three-quarters of an inch long, cylindrical in form, of a pale brown color, with two broad, creamy white stripes running the whole length of its body; the face and under surface are hoary white, the antennae and legs gray. The females are larger than the males, and have shorter antennae. The beetle makes its appearance during the months of June and July, usually remaining in concealment during the day, and becoming active at dusk. The eggs are deposited late in June and during July, one in a place, on the bark of the tree, near its base. Within two weeks the young worms are hatched, and at once commence with their sharp mandibles to gnaw their way through the outer bark to the interior. It is generally conceded that the larvae are three years in reaching maturity. The young ones lie for the first year in the sapwood and the inner bark, excavating flat, shallow cavities, about the size of a silver dollar, which are filled with their sawdust-like castings. The holes by which they enter being small are soon filled up, though not until a few grains of castings have fallen from them.

Their presence may, however, often be detected in young trees from the bark becoming dark colored, and sometimes dry and dead enough to crack."

On the approach of winter, it descends to the lower part of its burrow, where it remains inactive until spring. The second season it continues its work in the sapwood, and in case two or three are at work in the same tree may completely girdle it, thus destroying it. The third year it penetrates to the heart of the tree, makes an excavation, and awaits its transformation. The fourth spring it comes forth a perfect beetle, and lays its eggs for another generation.

The Flat-Headed Borer

The flat-headed apple tree borer, Chrysobothris femorata, is also a native of this country. It is a very active insect, delights to bask in the hot sunshine; runs up and down the tree with great rapidity, but flies away when molested. It is about half an inch in length. "It is of a flattish, oblong form, and of a shining, greenish black color, each of its wing cases having three raised lines, the outer two interrupted by two impressed transverse spots of brassy color dividing each wing cover into three nearly equal portions. The under side of the body and legs shine like burnished copper; the feet are shining green." This beetle appears in June and July, and does not confine its work to the base of the tree, but attacks the trunk in any part, and sometimes the larger branches. The eggs are deposited in cracks or crevices of the bark, and soon hatch. The young larva eats its way through the bark and sapwood, where it bores broad and flat channels, sometimes girdling and killing the tree. As it approaches maturity, it bores deeper into the tree, working upward, then eats out to the bark, but not quite through the bark, where it changes into a beetle, and then cuts through the bark and emerges to propagate its kind.

This insect is sought out when just beneath the bark, and devoured by woodpeckers and insect enemies.

Another borer, the long-horned borer, Leptostylus aculifer, is widely distributed, but is not a common insect, and does not cause much annoyance to the fruit grower. It appears in August, and deposits its eggs upon the trunks of apple trees. The larvae soon hatch, eat through the bark, and burrow in the outer surface of the wood just under the bark.

Protection Against Borers

The practical point is, What remedies can be used to prevent the ravages of the borers? The usual means of fighting the borers is, to seek after them in the burrows, and try to kill them by digging them out, or by reaching them with a wire. This seems to be the most effectual method of dealing with them after they have once entered the tree, but the orchardist should endeavor to prevent the insects from entering the tree. For this purpose, various washes have been recommended for applying to the tree, either for destroying the young larvae before they enter the bark, or for preventing the beetles depositing their eggs. It has been found that trees which have been coated with alkaline washes are avoided by beetles when laying their eggs. Prof. Saunders recommends that soft soap be reduced to the consistency of a thick paint, by the addition of a strong solution of washing soda in water, and be applied to the bark of the tree, especially about the base or collar, and also extended upward to the crotches where the main branches have their origin. It should be applied in the evening of a warm day, so that it may dry and form a coating not easily dissolved by the rain. This affords a protection against all three kinds of borers.

It should be applied early in June, before the beetles begin to lay their eggs, and again in July, so as to keep the tree well protected.

Hon. T.S. Gold, of Connecticut, at a meeting of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, in regard to preventing the ravages of the borer, said:

"A wash made of soap, tobacco water, and fresh cow manure mingled to the consistency of cream, and put on early with an old broom, and allowed to trickle down about the roots of the tree, has proved with me a very excellent preventive of the ravages of the borer, and a healthful wash for the trunk of the tree, much to be preferred to the application of lime or whitewash, which I have often seen applied, but which I am inclined to think is not as desirable an application as the potash, or the soda, as this mixture of soft soap and manure."

J.B. Moore, of Concord, Mass., at the same meeting said, in regard to the destruction of the borer:

"I have found, I think, that whale oil soap can be used successfully for the destruction of that insect. It is a very simple thing; it will not hurt the tree if you put it on its full strength. You can take whale oil soap and dilute until it is about as thick as paint, and put a coating of it on the tree where the holes are, and I will bet you will never see a borer on that tree until the new crop comes. I feel certain of it, because I have done it."

For borers, tarred paper 1 or 2 feet wide has been recommended to be wrapped about the base of the trunk of the tree, the lower edge being 1 or 2 inches below the surface of the soil. This prevents the two-striped borer from laying its eggs in the tree, but would not be entirely effectual against the flat-headed borer, which attacks any part of the trunk and the branches. By the general use of these means for the prevention of the ravages of the borers, the damages done by these insects could be brought within very narrow limits, and hundreds of valuable apple trees saved.

H. REYNOLDS, M.D.

Livermore Falls, Me.