141 



Smoothing and packing the ground under the trees and cover- 

 ing it to the depth of a quarter of an inch with salt lias been sug- 

 gested. Covering the ground with boards, bricks or some hard sub- 

 stance was for a time supposed to be an effectual remedy. 



Another remedy has been recommended which is doubtless benfi- 

 jcial to a certain extent. This is to smooth the cround for a few feet 

 ground the collar of the tree, then place close ground the trunk early 

 in the season chips and pieces of bark as hiding places for the beetles, 

 ^examine often and kill the curculios collected there. 



Another means of destroving them consists in destroying the fruit 

 which drops prematarely ; 'but to make this effectual it must be gath- 

 ered soon after it falls, before the grub leaves it to enter the ground, 

 otherwise no advantage is derived therefrom. Hogs and poultry, it 

 allowed to run in the orchard will greatly assist in this matter. 



After all the devices and experiments of fruit-growers and investi- 

 gations of entomologists, we are forced to confess that the Little Turk 

 remains complete master of the situation, and that raising plums for 

 profit or extensive use is about hopeless. This is a sad commentary 

 on horticultural and entomological science, yet it is just as well lor 

 us to acknowledge the fact, not that we would for a moment entertain 

 the idea of giving up the contest, but that we may be better prepared 

 to receive and entertain broader views and more comprehensive meas- 

 ures on this subject if such can be devised. 



It is possible that it may become necessary to destroy all our trees 

 and plant anew. It may be that by nesting and rearing the English 

 sparrow or some other insect-eating bird in the trees the fruit can be 

 preserved ; the experiment is neither difficult or expensive and is 

 well worth a trial. 



In the neighborhood of large cities, it may pay to inclose the trees 

 in some kind of gauze or netting in order to keep oft the curculios. 

 These and a number of other devices can be imagined and although 

 now perhaps considered wild, may yet be worth careful consideration. 

 It is evident that we must advance beyond our range of expedients 

 before we will find one that will accomplish the desired end, and in 

 doing this we must necessarily venture among those which appear wild 

 and extravagant. 



Conotrachelus crat;egi.— Walsh. (Quince curculio.) 



This beetle, which is about one-fifth of an inch long, has a rather 

 longer snout than the preceding, is very broad-shouldered, the front 

 margin of the wing-cases being square and considerably broader than 

 the thorax. Its general color is a somewhat uniform ash-gray mot- 

 tled more'or less with dull yellow, dusky and whitish. It is without 

 the humps on the back, but has about seven longitudinal ridges. 



This species does not make a crescent mark like the plum curculio, 

 but makes a direct puncture like the apple curculio for the reception 

 of its eggs, the hole'being somewhat larger than that made by the 

 latter, and it is similarly enlarged at the bottom. The egg, which is 

 similar to that of the plum curculio, hatches in a few days after it is 

 deposited. The larva produced therefrom works chiefly near the sur- 

 face of the fruit, and does not penetrate to the heart, in the quince. 





