1G2 THE GARDENER. [April 



extent. When tliey become very numerous, they not only lodge 

 upon and injure the bark, but also attack the fruit, which after being 

 attacked is almost useless for any purpose save the kitchen, as they 

 adhere so firmly to the skin that they cannot be removed without 

 much injury to the fruit. The best and most effectual cure for them 

 is to syringe the trees in winter with boiling water. This may be 

 done without the least fear of harm to the trees in mild open w^eather, 

 when they are quite dormant. Spirits of tar have been recommended, 

 is well as several other things — such as train and linseed oil — but to 

 paint a tree all over with any of these would be to adopt a cure 

 as injurious as the disease. The boiling water applied at the time we 

 have recommended, and directed over every branch and crevice of 

 the tree, will at once and for ever eradicate the whole colony. 



The Aphis pyri-mali, or Pear -and -Apple fly, often makes great 

 havoc upon the young and tender leaves. One year they may be very 

 bad, the next they may not be seen to any extent, while the following 

 year they may begin with renewed vigour. They commit the whole of 

 their damage upon the leaves, inserting their proboscis into the leaf, 

 from which they drain the life-blood, after which the leaf withers and 

 dies. Mr M'Intosh, in his ' Book of the Garden, ' has recommended 

 several remedies, the best of which we believe to be syringing the 

 tree with a strong decoction of tobacco or tobacco liquor. He further 

 recommends " 1 lb. quicklime, 1 lb. snuff, 1 lb. sulphur vivum, J lb. 

 lamp-black, 1 lb. soft-soap, mixed together in water until the whole 

 forms into the consistency of thick paint, applied by a painter's brush 

 to the branches in February, taking care that every part of the tree is 

 covered with the mixture." 



Another very destructive insect is the Curculio pyri, Mdiich by some 

 has been believed to be the same as Curculio pomorum, which attacks 

 the Apple. Although in a perfect state these two weevils are identical, 

 yet in their first stages of development they are w^idely separated, both 

 as regards their form and habits of life. The Apple weevil does not 

 commit such wholesale destruction as the one belonging to the Pear. 

 The one contents itself with the blossoms only, while the other attacks 

 flowers, flower-buds, as well as the wood-buds. Kollar has said re- 

 garding the Pear weevil of this family, that "if a Pear-tree is examined 

 at the time of blossoming, it will be seen that many buds are brown 

 at the points, as if affected by the hoar-frost. If these buds are ex- 

 amined closely, there will be found a dirty-white rugose maggot, with 

 a dark-brown head, which in time is changed to a small weevil. It is 

 scarcely more than 3 lines long, brown, with a white uneven band 

 almost in the middle of the elytra, and two black shoulder-spots, there- 

 fore perfectly like the Apple weevil. This insect probably passes the 



