IlfSECtS. -*^^ 



^e destroy many of them before they are ^^.^^?^t forth. The 

 only remedy known is said t^ be the keeping large flocks of 

 turkeys and other poultry to feed on them ; this is not, howev- 

 •er, extensively efficacious, only when grass is appropriated te 

 pasture. 



CuRCULio. A genus of insects belonging to the beetle ordet. 

 >rhe species are slid to be very numerous. The immense dam- 

 Tge dJne by an insect of this Ue to the fniits of this country 

 of which there is no similar account m Europe, has induced 

 Bome naturalists to coirjecture, tliat we have a pecu lar and ve- 

 Tdestructive species in America. This insect injures and 

 Zstrovsourfri^tsbyits mode of propogation. ^f^^yi^J^^ 

 spring, about the time when the fruit trees are in blossom, the 

 curcul ones ascend in swarms from the earth, "awl up the 

 frees and as the several fruits advance, they puncture the rind, 

 or skin, with their pointed rostra, and deposit their embryos m 

 the wound thus inflicted. The maggot thus bedded m the fruity 

 preys upon its pulp and juices, until, m most instances, the fruit 

 Irishes, falls to the ground, and the msect escaping from so 

 unsafe a residence, retreats into the earth: wb»re, hke other 

 beetles, it remains in the form of a grub, or worm during the 

 winter, ready to be metamorphosed into a bug, or beetle, as the 

 ^n-n^r advances. Dr. Tilton say-s, ^at although theeeijuge 

 have manifestly the capacity of flying they appear very reluc- 

 tant in the use of their wings, and perhaps never employ them, 

 except when necessity compels th^ to migrate. Hence au- 

 thorities difi-er on the subject of the best remedies. Some who 

 suppose they crawl up on the bodies, would tie a ^^pe dipt in 

 tar, or make some other application to the bodies which would 

 prevent their crawling up. But Dr. Deane, who thmks they 

 Le their wings to ascend the tree, believes, with many others, 

 that they must be prevented from coming out of the ground or 

 destroyed in the maggot before they enter it. It is said that 

 tanner's spent bark spread around the tree will pre-^ent them. 

 As the smooth stone fruits are.the grand. nurseries of the cur- 

 • culio, special care should be -taken to have the^e effectu^ly 

 protected. Unless this can be done, a farmer siiould not suher 

 them to grow on his plantation, as they will furnvsh a destruc- 

 tive vermin that will ruin his other fruite. €herry-trees, nec- 

 tarines, plums, apricots, &c. should therefore be Planted in 

 lanes and hard beaten yards, the common higliwaysot all the 

 ,£tock ofthe farm, and not.beyondtjie range of the ordinary do^- 



