_Treatment._ Since the larvae spend the winter in the dead twigs, burn these twigs in autumn or early spring and thus destroy the pest. =The Peach-Tree Borer.= In Fig. 161 you see the effect of the peach-tree borer's activity. These borers often girdle and thereby kill a tree. Fig. 162 shows the adult state of the insect. The eggs are laid on peach or plum trees near the ground. As soon as the larva emerges, it bores into the bark and remains there for months, passing through the pupa stage before it comes out to lay eggs for another generation. [Illustration: FIG. 161. BORER SIGNS AROUND BASE OF PEACH TREE] _Treatment._ If there are only a few trees in the orchard, digging the worms out with a knife is the best way of destroying them. You can know of the borer's presence by the exuding gum often seen on the tree-trunk. If you pile earth around the roots early in the spring and remove it in the late fall, the winter freezing and thawing will kill many of the larvae. =EXERCISE= How many apples per hundred do you find injured by the codling moth? Collect some cocoons from a pear or an apple tree in winter, place in a breeding-cage, and watch for the moths that come out. Do you ever see the woodpecker hunting for these same cocoons? Can you find cocoons that have been emptied by this bird? Estimate how many he considers a day's ration. How many apples does he thus save? [Illustration: FIG. 162. PEACH-TREE BORERS, MALE AND FEMALE Female with broad yellow band across abdomen] Watch the curculio lay her eggs in the plums, peaches, or cherries. What per cent of fruit is thus injured? Estimate the damage. Let the school offer a prize for the greatest number of tent-caterpillar eggs. Watch such trees as the apple, the wild and the cultivated cherry, the oak, and many others. Make a collection of insects injurious to orchard fruits, showing in each case the whole life history of the insect, that is, eggs, larva, pupa, and the mature insects. [Illustration: THE TROUBLESOME CHINCH BUG (ENLARGED) 1, bugs on plant; 2, eggs; 3, young bug; 4 and 5, older bugs; 6, long-winged bug; 7 and 8, short-winged bug] SECTION XXXIII. GARDEN AND FIELD INSECTS