Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1876 — Preventive of Borers. [ARTICLE]

Preventive of Borers.

Aa the season approaches when borers commence their ravages on fruit trees, and the deposit of the eggs has to be guarded against, information on this subject will be in order. As one important precaution,. we would SdVTse against planting shade trees, as mountain ash, near where apple and pear trees are to grow. The borers breed in mountain ash, worse even than In apple trees, possibly because the shade trees are less carefully attended to. A writer In the Prairie Farmer has been experimenting with kerosene, which, though hazardous, seems to have been attended with good results. He says: “The bofert have been troubling us here for several years, more particularly near Chicago, where the maples have been destroyed in great quantities. It remained for the year 1874 to show Us theftdestructive power.' You remember that year was the hottest and dryest dp-record. .The borers then made terrible havoc with

our trees. AU (1)6 mountain ash were destroyed, about four-fifths of the soft maples, two thirds of the elms, and onehalf the ash-leaved maples. The true ashes, willows and poplars were not attacked. A great many trees were killed by the dry weather I think not a single tree of the kind they attacked escaped without more or less Injury. We came to tho conclusion something must be done to destroy or counteract the borer, or that we must stop planting trees. “ We found that in this section the mass of eggs were laid from the last week of May to the first week of July (inclusive), on the Bouth and southwest side of the tree, seldom on the east and never on the the north side. A shaded tree they do not attack, unless it is dying or dead. To shade all our trees was impossible. Heap, if properly applied, we found would keep them out, but would not destroy .their when once they had obtained a lodgment, we found also that a fresh application had to be made after each hard rain, to be effectual. “ Being told that an application o( kerosene would be effectual, we determined to try it, but as no one appeared to be thoroughly posted as to its effects upon the trees, some affirming that it would kill, while others thought not, we concluded first to test it with two soft maples, just at the time the leaves were starting. We cut the bark of one of these in several places, the other we left entire. We saturated them with kdFosene on the south and southwest sides. During the first week the kerosene was distinct to taste and smell; during the second week a slight trace only could be perceived, which entirely disappeared the third week. The buds which were touched by the kerosene were killed, but new buds pushed out and grew vigorously, and the trees grew as well as others in the uurseiy. We applied kerosene the middle of June to over four thousand trees, with apparently irood results. Tke trees grew well and Rave commenced healing wherever previously attacked. There was no sign of a borer on trees washed with the kerosene; even where the trees were dead, the bark was stripped off and no Sign of the borer seen. We shall continue the experiment this year (1876), and note the result. A number of trees were planted on the north and east side of a board fence, and some directly opposite on the south and west side; those on the south and west side -were attacked in proportion to those on the north and east side as three to one, yet the only difference was the partial shade afforded-those-on the-north and-east-“Notwithstanding the foregoing facts, I would not recommend the indiscriminate use of kerosene until the experiment has been more thoroughly tried.” A safer preventive, and effectual if applied before the eggs are laid, is to wash the trunks of trees, liable to be infected, with carbolic acid diluted‘with water. This does no injury to the tree, but it will not avail where the eggs are already deposited. It is very doubtful whether even kerosene will destroy the egg tha) is to hatch out the borer unless the bark is removed sufficiently to bring the oil in contact with the egg .—Rural New Yorker.