APPLE WEEVIL. 81 



found a colony ; the white cotton soon appears in large 

 bunches ; branch after branch becomes infected ; the tree 

 grows cankery, pines, and dies. How this is effected no 

 one knows, though the plague and its doings are too evi- 

 dent to escape the notice of the commonest clown. In 

 large orchards it is in vain to hope for a cure, but not so 

 in gardens. Directly you see the least morsel of cotton, 

 make up your mind to a little trouble and you will get rid 

 of it. In the first place, get a plasterer's whitewashing- 

 brush, then get a large pot of double size, make your man 

 heat it till it is quite liquid, then go with him into the gar- 

 den and see that he paints over every patch of white, 

 though not bigger than a sixpence ; the next morning have 

 the size-pot heated again, and have another hunt; and 

 keep on doing so every morning for a fortnight. Your 

 man will tell you it's no use ; tell him that's your business, 

 not his: your neighbours will laugh at you for your pains: 

 do it before they are up. I have tried it and known it to 

 be effectual. Spirit of tar has been used with partial effect, 

 so also has resin ; whitewashing has been often tried, and, 

 as it contains some size, is not entirely useless, and some 

 horticulturists think it ornamental : I do not. 



The APPLE WEEVIL is a second enemy to the cider or- 

 chard. By carefully examining the bark of an apple-tree 

 in the winter, you will occasionally find a pretty little 

 beetle in the cracks, which, directly on being touched, 

 shams dead, and drops on the ground, where you will not, 

 without great difficulty, discover it, on account of the 

 similarity of colour ; you must, therefore, hunt till you find 

 another. This time, as soon as you see him, place one 

 hand below him, then touch him lightly with a little bit of 

 stick, and he will drop into your open hand; his own 



G 



