The Quince Curculio. 391 



orchard again; the pest has not been exterminaied, and it is still 

 necessary to keep an eye on the insert. Thus, with our present 

 knowledge of its life and habits, the jarring process is the most suc- 

 cessful method for fighting the quince curculio yet suggested and 

 tested. 



Some of the curculios are to be found on the trees at any time 

 during the day or night. It is said to be more active at night and 

 rather secretive during the day, perhaps sometimes hiding in the 

 crevices of the bark or in grass or soil at the base of the tree. We 

 have made no observations upon this point. Those who practice the 

 jarring method begin the work early in the morning and continue it 

 all day, if necessary. 



The more important question, as to just when to begin jarring for 

 this pest, we are unfortunately'unable to set any definite date. In 

 1896, the beetles were out in force in the last week of May when the 

 quinces were of the size shown in figure 191, while in 1897, they did 

 not appear until the last week in July, when the fruits were as large as 

 the one shown in figure 192. We have offered an explanation for this 

 remarkable difference of two months in the date of appearance, in our 

 discussion of the life-story of the pest. In 1897, one large grower 

 began jarring in the latter part of May expecting to capture the 

 curculios as he had done at this time the year before, but finding no 

 insects, he put away his machines, thinking there would be none to 

 trouble his fruit. We notified him when the beetles began to emerge 

 in our cages in the latter part of July, and he got out his machines 

 again and found the enemy this time. 



We believe, however, that 1896 was quite an abnormal year, and 

 that the curculios will not often appear so early as the last week in 

 May. On the other hand, v/e suspect that the last week in July is 

 uncommonly late for their appearance. In the latitude of St. Louis, 

 the curculios appear about June i, and we believe that they 

 normally appear in New York State about July 15, perhaps a little 

 earlier. However, this is not a matter for the quince-grower to 

 guess at, and there are two wnys open for him to find out about 

 when to look for the beetles. It will be a simple matter to spade up 

 some soil in the orchard in April, examine it carefully to make sure it 

 contains some of the grubs in their earthen cells, and then put the soil 

 in a box or can ot some sort whose top can be covered with netting. 



