566 



NEW REMEDY FOR THE CURCULIO. 



May 25. Illinois Plum pierced on the 

 15th inst. has now fallen off. Found now 

 three different Elruge Nectarine trees with 

 a single fruit on each — all pierced by the 

 curculio. Whitewashed them with lime. 



June 3. Absent at Lexington five days. 

 One rain while away. Now renewed ap- 

 plication of lime and plaster. Limed fruits 

 looking well, except two, which have re- 

 ceived an injury sufficient to paralyze one 

 cheek ; the affected cheeks are rough, and 

 emit gum. 



June 12. Prince Gage and Drap d'Or 

 Plums begin to swell and assume a rough, 

 uneven exterior. No curculio ; no glue, 

 but on injured fruits. 



June 19. No lime since June 3d. Plas- 

 tered fruits all fallen, being first pierced. 



June 21. Limed plums have a good ap- 

 pearance. No sting of the curculio as yet ; 

 apparently out of danger ; no lime since 

 June 3d. 



June 30. The first of the limed fruits, 

 a Prince's Gage Plum, paralyzed on one 

 cheek, ripened about a week since. Every 

 fruit whitewashed has reached maturity, 

 without any disposition to rot in ripening' — 

 the unblemished ones attaining good size. 



N. B. The three Elruge Nectarines 

 whitewashed on the 25th of May, after 

 they were pierced by the curculio, fell be- 

 tween the 5th and 10th June, the larva 

 having eaten its way into the embryo ca- 



tyledons. ■ 



Saxonville, April 21th, 1850. 



- To the Fruit Committee, of the Massachu- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society — Gentlemen: 

 My attention has been called to examine the 

 insects which are destructive to fruits and 

 ascertain their habits, in consequence of 

 being a sufferer for a number of years ; as 

 the information may be of use, I herewith 

 submit the result of my experiments and 

 observations. There are only two insects 

 which have caused me any trouble ; the 

 others are all easily destroyed ; but the two 

 to which I refer, viz., the Curculio and 

 Codling Moth, have destroyed, the past 

 year, seven-eighths of my apples, cherries, 

 plums and peaches, and have disfigured 

 the pears by their punctures. The cur- 

 culio commenced puncturing the fruit about 

 the 6th of June, and deposited its eggs in 

 fully three-fourths of the apples, causing 



them to drop when very small, and to an 

 equal extent the cherry and peach. The 

 plums would have been all destroyed, but 

 were saved by shaking the trees, the insect 

 falling upon a cotton cloth extended over a 

 frame which I had placed under the tree, 

 and also by placing a frame over the tree and 

 extending worsted netting over it, which 

 was sufficiently open to admit air and light. 

 The labor and expense of these methods 

 are considerable, and I hope a better plan 

 may be found ; one of which I am now 

 experimenting upon, with some prospect of 

 success. I showered the trees before the 

 bud broke, with whitewash, with my hand 

 engine, covering the branches entirely; the 

 time required for a moderate sized tree was 

 only five minutes, and the expense of lime 

 hardly worth estimating. If this does not 

 answer the purpose, I shall syringe the fruit 

 when little larger than a common white 

 bean. My experiments have convinced me 

 that this latter method is a sure preventive. 

 I found four of the larvae in one apple, nearly 

 ready to go into the ground, where they go 

 through their chrysalis state, and remain 

 until the following season in a torpid state. 

 I produced the perfect insect from the larvae 

 which was found in the apple, peach and 

 cherry, in about four weeks. The larvae 

 of the curculio is the cherry and peach 

 worm, and also the small apple worm. 

 They are the cause of the cherry and peach 

 rot by their late punctures. 



Respecting the habits of this insect, I 

 notice they came on to the fruit from the 

 first to the tenth of June, and continue 

 puncturing the fruit until the twentieth of 

 July. I have seen them as late as the first 

 of September, but have not discovered fresh 

 punctures later than the twentieth of July, 

 and am inclined to believe those which are 

 seen later, are of the new crop, which have 

 been disturbed accidentally in the earth. 

 I ascertained the increase by placing a male 

 and female under a glass vessel, and giving 

 them one plum a day for thirty-six days ; 

 they deposited, upon an average, about 

 eight eggs per day ; they ceased depositing 

 their eggs about the same time that the 

 punctures ceased upon the fruit on the 

 trees. They go through their chrysalis 

 state in about four weeks after going into 

 the gruond, and remain in a torpid state 



