STATE IIOETICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



83 



facts which are established beyond all peradventure; and in the second i)art, we ^vill 

 consider only those i)oints upon which opinions ditt'er. 



[Fig. 1.] 



Colors— (a and b) whitish; (c) brown, black and cluy-yellow. 



The Plum Ciirculio, commonly known all o\er the country as THE CURCULlo, is a 

 small, roug'hcnc'd, warty, brownish beetle, lielonging to a very exteusiAC family 

 known as Snout-beetles (CuRCULiONnvE). it measures about one-fifth of an inch in 

 length, exclusive of the snout, and may be distinguished from all other North Ameri- 

 can Snout-beetles by having an elongate, knife-edged hump, resembling a piece of 

 black sealing-wax, on the middle ot each wing-case, behind which humps there is a 

 broad clay-yellow band, with more or less white in its middle. For the benelit of 

 those who are either fortunate or unfortunate enough not to Ije acquainted with the 

 gentleman, I iiave prepared the above sketch, which will give at a glance its true 

 form, and obviate the necessity of fiu'ther description and waste of time. (Fig. 1 , c.) 



This is the perfect or imago form of the Curculio; and it is in this hard, shelly, 

 beetle stale, that the female passes the winter, slicltering under the shingles of houses, 

 under the old l)arkof both forest and fruit trees, under logs and in rubbish of all 

 kinds. As spring approaches, it awakens from its lethargy, and, if it has slept in the 

 forest, instinctively searches for the nearest orchard. In Central Illinois and in Cen- 

 tral Missouri the beetles may be found in the trees during the last half of April, but in 

 the extreme southern part of Illinois they appear about two weeks earlier, while in 

 the extreme northern part of the same State they arc fully two weeks later. Thus, in 

 the single State of Illinois, there is a diflerence of about one month in the time of the 

 Curculio 's tirst appearance on your fruit trees; and I hardly need remind you that the 

 time will vary with the forwardness or lateness of the season. 



As we shall see from the sequel, it is very impoitant that we know just when first to 

 expect Mrs. Turk, and I therefore lay it down as a rule, applicable to any latitude, 

 that she first commences to puncture peaches when they are of the size of small 

 marbles', or of hazel nuts, though she may be formd on your trees as soon as they are 

 in blossom. To prevent confusion, I will use the word " peach," not that her work 

 is confined to this fruit, for, as we shall presently see, she is not so particular in her 

 tastes, but because the peach is more extensively grown in your State than are any of 

 the other large kinds of stone fruit. 



Alighting, then, on a small peach, she takes a strong hold of it (Fig. 1, d), and with 

 the minute jaws at the end of her snout, makes a small cut just through the skin of 



