30 



THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



to f^o (o the work itself. In the meantime it may 

 be hiicfly Btatcd hero, that in the case both of the 

 CiuTulio and the Apple-moth, it is recommended 

 to destroy as quickly as possible all the infested 

 fruit that falls from the tree; that, in the case of 

 the Curculio, jarring (not shaking) the infested 

 tree upon white sheets, and killing all the "little 

 Turks" that fall thereon j is the approved remedy, 

 and in the case of the Apple-worm, wrapping hay- 

 bands round the trunk of the infested tree, and de- 

 stroying from time to time the insects contained in 

 the cocoons formed on and in the bark beneath 

 those haj'-bands. 



On the subject of these same hay-bands, I can- 

 not resist the temptation of quoting a short passage, 

 illustrative of the vein of quaint, dry humor which 

 crops out every now and then in the course of the 

 work. 



But some people will say: "It will take a great deal of 

 hay to go over a large orchard in this way, and hay is 

 very dear now." — I have had a long fight with the in.scot 

 enemies. There has been a- good deal of wear and tear 

 of patienee. Job was a patient man — he bore all those 

 boils with commen<lable resignation. Abraham Lincoln 

 has been a patient man. To have borne all he has from 

 the rebels on one side, and all their friends on the otlier, 

 witjiont once saying '*by the Eternal," is a manifestation 

 of gentleness almost superhuman. I am patient myself. 

 A man who has fought the Curculio for so many years, 

 must be patient. But when I meet a man who counts tlie 

 cost of a yard of hay-rope, when he sees the ground cov- 

 ered with" worthless "fruit under each of those trees which 

 he has worked at so long and so faithfully, and with no 

 apples, no pears, and no fruit of any kind — why, then I 

 lose my patience, and say — no, I won't say what I would 

 Bay. (p. 127.) 



There is but one drawback to this work. In one 

 particular department the Artist has not done jus- 

 tice to the Author. Nothing can exceed the life- 

 like beauty of Mr. Hochstein's plums and necta- 

 rines and apricots — they almost seem to melt in our 

 mouths. In delineating the evil works of insects 

 upon our choicest fruits, he is also great. But 

 when he attempts to picture the insects themselves, 

 he is nowhere. For example, the Apple-worm 

 Moth (Plate IX, figs. 7 and IS) is quite unlike the 

 genuine insect, both in coloring, and in the pattern 

 drawn so deftly on its wings by nature. And as 

 to the highly magnified colored drawings of the 

 Curculio, (Plate VI, figs. 6 and 7,) they are like 

 nothing in the heavens above, or in the earth be- 

 neath, or in the waters under the earth, b. D. AV. 



IBSECTS IBT THE ORCHARD. 



DV nil. J. s. nOUOHTON, I'niLADBLrniA. 



My observations upon Insects have been chiefly 

 directed towards the destruction of them. I have 

 Btudicd them, scientifically, only so fai as to learn 

 iiow to prevent their ravages in the orchard and 

 garden. I have a few facts and suggestions which 

 I should like to see discussed in tlie Practical 

 Entomoloolst : — 



1st. The Curculio. — It lias been asserted by one 

 6f our leading fruit-growers, that the Curculio 

 troeds in the Cherry. Is this so ? We know very 

 well that the Curculio stings the cherry, and prob- 

 ably deposits its eggs in that fruit; but does the 



clierry exist long enough to perfect the larvaj of 

 the Curculio? If the cherry does breed the Cur- 

 culio, the sooner we got rid of our Cherry-trees the 

 better; for no other fruit can produce so many of 

 these destructive insects. 



2nd. T/i'' Bark-louse on Pear-trees. — My or- 

 chard has been severely afilicted with the Bark- 

 louse, V(H-i-ns, or Scale insect. I am too thorough 

 and careful in my cultivation, to give up to this 

 enemy, but it has cost me much labor to keep these 

 insects within reasonable bounds. 



]jast f:dl (li^lift), I had all the trees carefully 

 painted with strong Soda wash. In the spring, and 

 during the summer, not a living louse or scale 

 could be iound on thousands of trees, liven on the 

 parts not painted, the Scale seemed to be all dead. 

 l"p to September 15th, I flattered myself that there 

 was not a living insect of this description in my or- 

 chard, which covers a number of acres. I thought 

 the winter of 1SG5 — 6 had been so cold it had kill- 

 ed them all. I had not before noticed any period 

 in the year, when the Bark-louse, if on the trees, 

 could not be found alive. But, lo ! on the 20th of 

 September, there were millions upon millions of 

 bark-lice on my Pear-trees! 



How and why was this? We had been at work 

 upon and among the trees, all summer, and had 

 constantly watched for bark-lice — four persons had 

 thus watched. But there was no sign of a living 

 insect, up to the 15th of September, and within 

 five days afterwards, the trunks of thousands of 

 Pear-trees were literally covered with "a multitude 

 that no man could number." 



The questions I would like to ask are as follows: 



Does the female Coccus pass any portion of her 

 life in or upon the soil? 



Why does the Scale first appear upon the trunks 

 of the trees, instead of the branches ? 



Is it probable, in the instance of the orchard 

 above described, that the Coccus or Scale-eggs were 

 deposited at the usual time, in June or July, and 

 did not attract attention, until the insect had reach- 

 ed a certain size ? 



3rd. The Cantharicles. — I have found, within a 

 year or two, a great increase in ravenous Cantharis 

 insects in my orchard. One large species, which I 

 sent to Mr. Stauff"er, of Lancaster, he thinks is not 

 generally known to Entomologists. These Cantha- 

 rides gnaw the young pears with great avidity, eat- 

 ing large holes in their sides, so as entirely to de- 

 stroy the fruit. I have caught them in the act of 

 eating the young pears. They are not easily alarm- 

 ed, and may be readily caught, as they are quite 

 large, and make no attempt to escape. I think 

 they also eat the young fruit-buds, and the interior 

 of the flowers. I shall watch them more closely 

 next season. Should this insect increase very ra- 

 pidly, it would totally destroy all hopes of a crop of 

 fruit. 



4th. Destruction of Insects in the Soil. — I have 

 thought that the larvae of many insects injurious to 

 fruit-trees, might be destroyed in the soil, by very 

 late plowing or digging, turning up the soil during 

 cold, wet, frosty weather, and thus exposing the 



