PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 335 



freely of all the varieties of our glorious fruits, at an expense 

 merely nominal compared with the present. The total destruc- 

 tion of this little insect would add more to the comfort, the 

 health, and the happiness of the whole people of our country 

 than has been brought about by any one cause since the extinc- 

 tion of the Hessian fly. 



In France, parts of Italy, in Persia and Independent Tartary, 

 they have apricots as we have peaches in our Middle States. In 

 the more mountainous parts of these countries, they flourish best ; 

 in this (K)untry the cultivation of this delicious fruit has not 

 been understood. We have supposed it could only be grown 

 under glass, or as a wall fruit, although it will flourish high up 

 in mountain regions, and the less early the spring the better. 



In some parts of Europe, plum trees line every road, and the 

 fruit is so abundant that they can send dried plums or prunes to 

 us so cheap, that the beautiful boxes they are packed in are 

 worth nearly the cost. In those countries they have no curculio. 

 "We have the same kinds of fruit trees, as favorable a climate, and 

 Boil as good, but a large portion of our population, in a majority 

 of seasons, have but little fruit of any kind, and but few ever see 

 an apricot. Now the question arises : What can be done 1 We 

 may hope for the discovery of some cheap and effectual remedy. 

 We may hope also for some cure for consumption or cancer, and 

 we have no right to suppose that we shall always hope in vain; 

 but we are obliged to say that such cures are not now known. 

 We do not wish to discourage others from experimenting with 

 the various remedies so boldly recommended, but merely to say 

 that our experience has been so unfavorable, that we have no 

 confidence in any of them. 



Suppose you discover a fumigation so disagreeable that it 

 would drive the curculio from your trees ; it would not kill 

 them, and back they would come as soon as the smoke had cleared 

 away. And the idea of keeping up that kind of war for six 

 weeks is absurd. About the same may be said of the various 

 washes that are to be thrown into the trees by hand engines or 

 syringes. Tar upon the bodies of your trees would prevent them 

 creeping up for a day or two until it became glazed, but they 

 are already in the trees, and seldom creep either down or up. 

 And they can fly, and pass from one orchard to another. No. 

 The curculio attacks our fruits w^ith but one object — to perpetu- 

 ate its race. The young fruit is its proper nidus, and if you 



