PAVING TO PREVENT CURCULIO. 



63 



rerely by the depredations of the curculio, 

 four years ago he paved part of a row of 

 plum and apricot trees, which stood twelve 

 feet apart, with thin flat stones, which are 

 abundant and cheap in that vicinity. The 

 flagging was continuous through the row 

 as far as it extended, and spread six feet 

 each side from the stems of the trees. The 

 consequence has been, an effectual cure for 

 the curculio upon the paved trees, both 

 plums and apricots, ever since he put the 

 flagging down, which has been fur three 

 successive crops; while on the trees which 

 were left unpaved, the fruit has been regu- 

 larly destroyed in every one of those years. 

 So fully has he become satisfied of the effi- 

 cacy of the flagging system, that the pre- 

 sent year he has paved his remaining trees, 

 the fruit of which I examined, and found 

 no sign of the curculio among it. The 

 remedy appears to me conclusive. The 

 insect can neither, if in the ground, dig up 

 through the flagging, nor, if on the tree, 

 when fallen, burrow into it, except through 

 the seams of the stones or bricks which 

 compose the pavement, which Mr. Spalding 

 suggests should be filled with water lime 

 grouting, or leached ashes. Indeed, he 

 laid his stone flagging on a thin bed of 

 leached ashes, spread under the trees, which 

 is a lasting manure for their support. If, 

 however, grass or weeds spring up between, 

 a coating of salt, sown upon the flagging, 

 will effectually cure the evil. 



Now to the expense. Mr. Spalding's 

 case, as Lockport affords large quarries of 

 thin stone, which are extensively used in 

 Buffalo and Rochester for paving purposes, 

 the smaller, unmarketable pieces, one to 

 two inches thick, which he uses, can be 

 obtained for two to three dollars a cord, 

 delivered at his gardens, and the chief ex- 

 pense is in laying them, which need not 

 exceed fifty cents a tree; and a cord would 



probably flag four or five trees. But as 

 every one is not so eligibly situated, I will 

 take bricks as a standard, which, according 

 to locality, can be delivered at $3 to $4 

 per 1000. A brick of usual size, 8 by 4 

 inches, contains 32 superficial inches; 4^ 

 bricks, therefore, will pave a square foot. 

 Suppose your plum trees are planted 12 

 feet apart, — they need not, I think, be 

 paved more than four feet on each side the 

 trunk of the tree. For if it be the fact, as 

 is generally conceded, that the curculio 

 passes up the body of the tree, that dis- 

 tance on each side will be sufficient. Let 

 the flagging be continuous throughout the 

 row, which will give 96 feet to each tree. 

 This will consume 432 bricks, which, at 

 $4 a thousand, will be $1.73. The paving 

 can be done for 50 cents ; costing, alto- 

 gether, $2.23 each, — not a large sum, when 

 a bushel of choice fruit annually, worth 

 two or three dollars, can be had from every 

 tree so paved. 



If the ground be in good condition, the 

 flagging will not need to be taken up for 

 manuring for many years ; and nothing 

 can be more friendly to the roots, in the 

 way of moisture, than this flagging ; for I 

 never have seen thriftier trees than those 

 grown in the paved streets of our cities 

 and villages. The experiment is worth 

 trying at all events ; and if successful with 

 others, as it has been with Mr. Spalding, it 

 is certainly worth universal adoption. 



Yours very truly, Lewis F. Allen. 



Black Rock; June 23, 1849. 



This is an excellent mode, which ha« 

 been practiced successfully in the neighbor- 

 hood of New- York and Philadelphia ; but 

 the hint will, no doubt, be both new and 

 valuable to the larger part of our readers. 



We still think that pigs and poultry are 

 the cheapest and most serviceable preven- 

 tives to the curculio, when the trees can 



