A TREATISE ON NUT CULTURE. 83 



made by an escaping grub, never by one entering. The number of eggs laid 

 by each female is probably between fifty and one hundred. As soon as the 

 eggs are laid, the winged insect dies, and no more are seen until the next 

 Spring, there being but one brood a year. Under ordinary circumstances the 

 grub escapes from the nut within ten days after the burr falls from the tree. 

 It then enters the ground and changes to the pupa state, in which it remains 

 dormant during the winter. In Spring it issues as a winged beetle. Here at 

 the North the worms often remain alive in the nut during Winter, escaping in 

 Spring. 



No practical way has yet been found to circumvent the mischievous work 

 of the beetle. All that at present can be suggested is to thoroughly handpick 

 the nuts, sorting out those that show holes in the shell and feeding them to the 

 hogs or turkeys. Wm. P. Corsa gives the following advice: To prevent the 

 escape of the worms into the ground the nuts should be gathered as soon as 

 they fall, and stored in tight boxes or bins from which the worms cannot 

 escape. After twelve or fifteen days they may be killed by fumigating the box 

 or bin with carbon bisulphide. Use eight ounces of this to a ton of nuts and 

 cover the box or bin tightly for twenty -four hours. Then expose to the air 

 until the carbon bisulphide has all evaporated. It will not hurt the edible nuts 

 in the least. In short, Chestnut growers and Chestnut gatherers should make 

 it an inviolable rule to kill every worm that they find in or out the nuts. And 

 this is also a good rule for growers and gatherers of Pecans, Walnuts, Hazel 

 and all other nuts to follow. 



HOW TO DESTROY WORMS IN CHESTNUTS. 



H. E. Van Deman, in Rural New Yorker. 



The two species of Chestnut weevil known in North America infest the 

 Chestnuts and Chinquapins in every locality where the latter grow naturally. 

 Three methods of combating these enemies seem to me practical: 



First, gather the nuts as they fall, and as soon as enough are on hand to 

 warrant treatment, put them in a tight barrel, box or other receptacle that can 

 be tightly covered. Procure a half pint or more of bisulphide of carbon, and 

 pour some in an open cup, which should be placed with the nuts. It will per- 

 meate every space, and kill all the larvae and eggs within thirty-six hours, if 

 securely confined. It will not injure the nuts, either for eating or planting, if 

 they are not longer subjected to treatment and are afterwards well aired. How- 

 ever, there is no danger from poisoning, except by inhaling the fumes. No fire 

 should be allowed near, as the gas is very inflammable. 



By the second method, as soon after gathering as possible put a large or 

 small quantity of nuts into a basket or tub, and pour boiling water over them 



