570 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



of these insects are ajw^ays more or less prolonged into the sliape of a snout or 



Erobosci.*, armed at the extremity with jaws for biting. Tlie lurvae have the 

 ead indistinct, are almost always footless, and live generally in fruit, wood, 

 and vcgt'table substances. The common whitish grub found in plums, chest- 

 nuts, and acorns is a good example of their form and habits. The destruc- 

 tive curculio or plum weevil belongs to this family, and perhaps more has 

 been written about this insect and remedies proposed than for any other. It 

 not only attacks the plum, but also the nectarine, peach, apple, pear, cherry, 

 quince, and, according to one author, the walnut also. The eggs are deposited 

 singly in a crescent-shaped incision made by the proboscis of the female in 

 and under the skin of the fruit when small. The larvae when hatched burroAvs 

 obliquely into the fruit, penetrating to the stone, causing the fruit to drop to the 

 ground. It then enters the earth, and the pupa is formed under ground. The 

 first brood appears about three weeks after the larva has entered the ground, 

 and the late broods pass the winter as larvai according to Dr. Harris ; but Dr. 

 Fitch, when speaking of the insects affecting the trunk, bark, and limbs of the 

 pear, in the New York State Agricultural Ileport for 1856, says that "beetles 

 which are hatched in the latter jiart of the season, finding no young fruit in 

 which they can deposit their eggs, are obliged to resort to the smooth, tender 

 bark of the branches of our different fruit trees, and the worms from these 

 eggs repose in, not under, the bark through the winter, and produce the beetles, 

 which appear the following June, and oviposit in the young fruit." There has 

 been considerable difference of opinion on this point, some stating that they re- 

 main as grubs all winter in the earth ; others say that the pupce are formed in 

 the autumn, and remain as such under ground until spring ; whilst others are 

 of the opinion that the perfect beetles themselves hybernate. We can only 

 say that, although for several years the bark of trees, under stones, and similar 

 places have been thoroughly searched, as yet not one true plum weevil has 

 been found, while several other insects are very numerous even in the depth 

 of winter in such situations. Should it, however, prove that neither larva) nor 

 pupae remain under ground all winter, the application of salt or any other 

 substance during the spring would prove useless. As i-egards destroying the per- 

 fect insect, Dr. Harris says, *' Let the trees be briskly shaken or suddenly 

 jarred every morning and evening during the time the insects appear in tlte 

 beetle form. When thus disturbed they may be caught in a sheet spread un- 

 der the tree, from which they should be gathered into a large, wide-mouthed 

 bottle or other tight vessel, and be thrown into the fire." A friend states that 

 he has been very successful by jarring the trees at midnight, when the beetles 

 are collected on them ; also, keeping the fruit covered with a constant white- 

 wash with a little glue added to it, Avhich is applied with a syringe as often as 

 ha necessary, has been recommended. All fallen fruit should be immediately 

 gathered and thrown into a tight vessel, and after it has been boiled or steamed 

 to kill the enclosed grubs, may be given as food to swine. A very strong de- 

 coction of quassia bark is said also to protect the plums from the stings or punc- 

 tures of the curculio. If, perhaps, a little soap were added, it would make the 

 liquid spread more evenly upon their smooth and waxy surface. Mr. Cum- 

 mings, of the New York Observer, recommends syringing the trees with a mix- 

 ture of four gallons lime-water, four gallons tobacco-water, one pound of 

 whale-oil soap, and four ounces of sulphur. The tobacco and water in solution 

 Dr. Fitch thinks good, " but the other ingredients add nothing to the value of 

 the mixture." A somewhat similar mixture is recommended in the Cincin- 

 natus, as also sulphur, lime, and hot water. These mixtures must be applied 

 from the beginning, wlien the fruit is first formed, until the curculio disappears, 

 and renewed whenever washed oft" by heavy rains. '• Hanging elder bushes 

 in the plum trees" has also been recommended, but has no eftect whatever- 

 Such remedies as " bruising tlie tree so as to arrest the gum, which will exu^ 



