the larvæ destroyed. This can be done by passing the bands through a wringer, or by unwinding and crushing with the thumb. I have found this last method the best. Every ten days after the first round-every nine days if the weather is dry and warm-this work should be repeated, till the last week of August, and again at the close of the season after the fruit is gathered. A common carpet-tack hammer, with a good claw, suspended around the neck by a cord, will be found an advantage.

Many apples will be carried to the cellar with the larvæ still in them. These larvæ, unless destroyed, will go through their changes. Hence, all barrels, bins, and boxes in the cellar should be examined. In knocking a box to pieces a few days ago (March 13), procured from a neighbor's cellar, I found over 100 larvæ concealed where the boards were nailed together. These were placed in a box, and all but two again spun cocoons. As we cannot hope to find nearly all of these, it would be well if the apple cellar were so arranged as to preclude the moths from issuing forth. It would be excellent policy to have our cellars so close that not a moth could escape in May and June. Were all cellars so fixed this spring it would be a great benefit, for I can find no live larvæ out in the orchards. In examining an orchard last week (April 27) I found over 100 cocoons. From more than one-third of these the insects had been taken by the sap-sucker (Picus villosus), while all the others, either from cold or some other cause were dead. I never saw such codling moth mortality before this spring. Fires and jars of sweetened water will have no effect in destroying these moths, as I have proved that neither attract them. Hogs turned into the orchard are but a partial remedy, as at least half of the larvæ never go to the ground at all.

OLD APPLE-TREE BORER.

Saperda candida, Fab. Family Cerambycida. Sub-Order Coleoptera. This pest, which has been so long in our country, is widely distributed in our State. Very few if any orchards are exempt from its attacks. Not that it always, or generally, totally destroys the trees; still, those suffering from its attacks are always lessened in vitality, and it not unfrequently happens that the trunks become so riddled with their tunnels that the tree becomes a prey to the hard winds, which are sure to come with each returning year.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The beautiful brown beetle (Fig. 20, c), with its two stripes of white, FIG. 20.

appears early in June, and thence on through July. So the egglaying is principally done in these two months. The grub (Fig. 20, a), whitish with a round black head, eats through the bark, and then usually passes in and up, frequently eating

through the branches far out towards the extremity. I have frequently found

apple-tree limbs no larger than my thumb, with a tunnel as large as a pipestem. These larvæ push their sawdust-like particles back of them and out of the hole where they first entered, so that it is not difficult to find them. They live and feed on the wood of the tree for three years; hence we see how that a single larvæ may bore, if left undisturbed, for a distance of several feet. They finally bore a hole for exit, fill it slightly with their sawdust, and a little back of the same make a cocoon of their own chips, in which they pupate (Fig. 20, b). Soon after, in June and July, the beetles again appear.

REMEDIES.

Soapy mixtures are found to be obnoxious to these beetles, so that in their egg-laying they are found to avoid trees to which such an application has been made. Thus we may hope to escape all danger by washing the smooth trunks of our trees early in June, and again early in July, with soft soap or a very strong solution of the same. T. T. Lyon, now of South Haven, whose judgment is very reliable in such matters, urges that we always use the soap itself. We should always examine the trees carefully in September, and wherever we find this pernicious grub's sawdust shingle out, we should give him a call. Perhaps we may reach him with a wire thrust into the hole, and by a vigorous ramming crush the culprit. If we have doubts as to the crushing, we should follow him with a knife; but in cutting out the borers, too great care cannot be taken to wound the tree just as little as possible. This heroic method is sure, and requires very little time, and no person who takes pride in his orchard, or looks to it as a source of profit, can afford to neglect this September examination, nor the previous application of soap to which it is supplementary.

THE FLAT-HEADED BORER.

Chrysobothris femorata, Fab. Family, Buprestida. Sub-Order, Hemiptera. At present this borer is quite as ruinous in our State as the preceding one, and I should not think it strange if in a well balanced account it was found even to surpass the other in the evil which it works to our fruit interests. I have seen young orchards nearly ruined the first summer after setting, by this devastator. Not long since a nurseryman came from a distant part of the State to consult me as to the ravages of this pest. He said that during the past summer, in some regions of the State, more than half the trees he sold were killed by this scourge, and of course he was unjustly blamed. At present, no nurseryman should sell trees without throwing in advice in regard to protecting against this devastator; for, as we shall see, such trees are peculiarly liable to attack.

These borers are not confined to the apple-trees, as I have found them working in oak, maple, and other trees of our forests.

NATURAL HISTORY.

This brownish beetle (Fig 21), with a coppery luster, is found from May till August, though I have found them more common in June and July. FIG. 21. As with the striped Saperda, the eggs are laid on the bark. The whitish grubs (Fig. 22), with their enormous front, brown head, and curled tail, usually bore only superficially, eating the inner bark and sap-wood; yet I have seen, and have now on exhibition here at the college, sections of young trees over an inch in diameter, bored completely through by these big-headed rascals. They eat but a single

season, pupate as in the preceding case, and come forth as imagos early in the spring.

They usually work on the trunk, though sometimes in the branches, almost FIG. 22. always on the south, the west, or the southwest sides of the tree; and their whereabouts may always be ascertained, not only by the sawdust, but also, and more certainly, by the black color of the bark. When the black color offers the suggestion of the presence of this borer, we can quickly become assured by striking a knife into the same. If the blade pierces the bark and goes on still a little further, we may be sure of the enemy's presence.

This borer is far more liable to attack feeble trees. Anything, therefore, which serves to diminish the vitality of the trees, promotes the ravages of this borer. Hence, after such a winter as we have just experienced, or after having the growth of our trees interrupted by the removal from the nursery to our orchards, we are in special danger of harm from these destructive borers. Hence, the coming season, when loss will be inevitable, we should more than ever be on the alert to mitigate the damage by our vigilance and care, and by the timely application of

REMEDIES.

The remedies for the flat-headed borer are the same as those given for the old borer, soap in June and July, and a knife in September,-though these grubs may be found in July and August, and to delay the cutting out till September would often be fatal, especially to trees in newly set orchards. I have known cases where labor of this kind in July would have paid more than $100 a day, besides saving a great amount of vexation.

APPLE-TREE BARK LOUSE.

Mytilaspis conchiformis, Gmelin. Family, Coccida. Sub-Order, Hemiptera.

This old enemy, though less destructive than formerly (probably because of parasites and mites which prey upon it, so that, like the Hessian fly, wheat midge, and many other insects, it has probably done its worst work), yet, to leave it to itself at the present time would be to yield the strife prematurely.

NATURAL HISTORY.

The bark-colored, oblong scales (Fig. 23), so harmless in appearance, serve from August to May only for protection. FIG. 23. to the 60 or 70 wee white eggs (1, Fig. 24) which are found underneath. About the first of June the young lice (2, Fig. 24) appear, so small that, though clad in

yellow, they can hardly be seen without a glass. Coming forth from under the scale, they roam about for a few days,-are sometimes blown to other trees, thus spreading their evil work,—but very soon settle down to earnest business. This consists in inserting their tiny beak and sucking the vitality from the trees. Very soon a scale (3, 4, 5, and 6, Fig. 24, different stages of development of scale) commences to form around them, from an exudation which is a secretion from the general surface. By August the impervious scale is complete (7, Fig. 24,). The eggs are then soon deposited, and the parent louse

dries up and shrinks away to nothingness.

REMEDIES.

As the scale is impervious to most fluids, though oils will penetrate it and destroy the eggs, the best time to fight these insects is just after the eggs hatch. At this time,

soft soap or strong soap

suds are sure death to the young lice. Hence, the trees should be washed the first week of June with soft soap, not only making the application to the trunk, but also to the main branches and limbs so far as possible.

IMPORTANT FACT.

We thus see that an application of soft soap to our apple trees, made the first week of June, is of exceeding value. It not only exterminates the sappers (bark lice), but banishes the miners (borers). We thus understand why our fruit trees which are thus treated seem fairly to laugh, as if grateful for such timely aid in banishing their enemies. I have no hesitation in affirming that the apple-grower will find the above one of the most paying operations that he can undertake in his orchard. Let all, then, scrape their trees early in spring, apply soft soap-not lye-the first of June, and again the first of July, not forgetting to adjust cloth bands by the last of June.

TWIG-BORERS.

Bostrichus bicandatus, Say. Family, Ptinida. Sub-Order, Coleoptera.

It will have been noticed during the past summer, that in very many portions of our State the twigs of the fruit trees, especially apple and pear trees, would wilt, die, and often break off. This is caused by two insects: the twig-borer, named above, and even more by the insect to be next mentioned.

HABITS.

The twig-borer does not bore as a larvæ, as do most beetles, but the imago FIG. 25. or mature insect, in this case, does the damage. Both males and females are found in about equal proportions in the twigs. The beetles are small, dark brown, and the males can easily be told from the females by their bodies terminating in small spines (Fig. 25).

FIG. 26.

Female. Male. They bore into a twig just above a bud (Fig. 26, c), and work down through the pith for two inches, thus causing the branch or twig to wither and die. The tunnel (Fig. 26, d) is about the size of a large knitting needle.

REMEDIES.

Cut off the twigs as soon as noticed and burn them.

d

TWIG-PRUNER.

Elaphidium parallelum, Newm. Family, Cerambyside. Sub-Order, Coleoptera. During the past season there has been very general complaint throughout the State of limbs of apple, pear, and plum trees dying and falling off. From branches sent me by John Suttle of Grand Rapids, Mr. Sneathan, South Boston, and others, I have bred the above named insect.

NATURAL HISTORY.

In spring, the brown beetle, well covered with yellowish hairs, with trim

FIG. 27.

k

body and graceful antennæ (Fig. 27, c), lays its eggs. These are placed in the axle of the leaves, usually in small twigs near the extremity of the limbs. Upon hatching, the grub (Fig. 27, a) bores into the twig and on towards the body of the tree. In July the limbs will show disease. The larvæ mature in the fall, so cut the limb that it may be easily broken, and assume the pupa state in the burrow (Fig. 27, b). These branches are quite apt to be carried to the ground by the autumn winds. During the winter or early spring the insect changes to the mature state, though in our warm rooms this may occur in mid-winter; and thus the beetle is ready to commence another season's operations.

This insect, in its, size, habits, and appearance, bears a very striking resemblance to the oak-pruner (E. villosus, Fab.), so long and so well known in our State.

REMEDIES.

The remedies are the same as for the twig-borer, though there is not the same danger in delay as with the former. If it were really known that the offenders were the pruners, and this can be easily determined by breaking open a twig during the summer when first attacked,-if the beetle is found it is the twig-borer, if a "worm" it is the pruner,-we might delay action till fall and be sure to get them. But it would be safest to cut and burn the twig so soon as it gave indication of the destroyer. In this course we should be sure to nip both evils, and so nearly in the bud that very much less damage will ensue, in case of the pruner, than though we delay operations till autumn, when our labor will only be repaid by lessening the danger for the next year. We must not confound with the work of these borers the twig blight, which is doing great damage in our State and Canada the present season. This blight, which bids fair to be a serious plague, may be readily distinguished, as the closest scrutiny shows no marks of an insect.

CANKER WORM.

Anisopteryx vernata, Peck. Family, Phalanidæ. Sub-Order, Lepidoptera. This insect has a curious history in our State; for though it has made its appearance several times, once in Calhoun county, again in Genesee county and in other places, for the past two or three years near Commerce, Oakland county, and just now near Pontiac, of the same county,* still it has never

* Mr. M. W. Gray, near Pontiac, has just sent me some veritable canker worms, with the remark that his Orchard is suffering severely, and that his neighbors are very anxious. Still later, I received specimens of this same insect, sent by H. P. Harris of Adrian to Mr. Chas. Betts, the able agricultural editor of the Detroit Tribune, who forwarded them, together with Mr. Harris' letter, to me. The insects come from the orchard of Mr. R. M. Baily, and are accompanied by the usual story of despoliation and ruin.