PEACH ENEMIES

Do not spray peaches. For the curculio, within a few days after the
flowers are off, take a large sheet of some cheap material to use as a
catcher. For large orchards there is a contrivance of this sort,
mounted on a wheelbarrow frame, but for the home orchard a couple of
sheets laid upon the ground, or one with a slit from one side to the
center, will answer. If four short, sharp-pointed stakes are fastened
to the corners, and three or four stout hooks and eyes are placed to
reunite the slit after the sheet is placed about the tree, the work can
be more thoroughly done, especially on uneven ground. After the sheet
is placed, with a stout club or mallet, padded with a heavy sack or
something similar to prevent injury to the bark, give a few sharp
blows, well up from the ground. This work should be done on a cloudy
day, or early in the morning--the colder the better--as the beetles are
then inactive. If a considerable number of beetles are caught the
operation should be repeated every two or three days. Continue until
the beetles disappear.
Peaches are troubled also by borers, in this case indicated by masses
of gum, usually about the crown. Dig out or kill with a wire, as in the
case of the apple-borer. Look over the trees for borers every spring,
or better, every spring and fall.
Another peach enemy is the "yellows," indicated by premature ripening
of the fruit and the formation of stunted leaf tufts, of a light yellow
color. This disease is contagious and has frequently worked havoc in
whole sections. Owing to the work of the Agricultural Department and
the various State organizations it is now held in check. The only
remedy is to cut and burn the trees and replant, in the same places if
desired, as, the disease does not seem to be carried by the soil.