248 THE APPLE CULTURI8T. 



ies of trees, even with a cushioned mallet, or rammer, will 

 injure the bark, unless the cushion is very thick, in which 

 case the jar will not be sufficient to bring down the insects. 



When to catch Curculios. These depredators are found 

 on fruit-trees all through the growing season. They seem 

 to be illustrious philosophers. They will seldom deposit an 

 egg in a cherry, plum, apple, or any other fruit, after the 

 specimens have grown to a certain size, or have attained a 

 certain age. If the egg is not deposited within a certain 

 period after the blossom has fallen, or after the young fruit 

 has formed, the growth will maintain the ascendency over 

 the slow progress of the little larva in the fruit. In other 

 words, the fruit will grow faster than the larva can eat. 

 Hence the curculio will seldom deposit its eggs in fruit that 

 is larger than the eggs of a quail. The young depredators 

 lay their course always directly for the delicate central or- 

 gans that run through the core of the apple or pear. Hence, 

 if the putamen or stone of the plum, cherry, or peach, has 

 begun to harden, the curculio seems to know it, and will 

 not deposit eggs in such fruit. The eggs must be depos- 

 ited before the putamen or shell of the pit has begun to 

 harden. These suggestions warrant the direction to jar the 

 trees daily for curculios before the young fruit is as large as 

 peas of good size, until the last depredator has been cap- 

 tured, or until the putamen of the growing fruit is so hard 

 that the young larva will not attempt to eat his way to the 

 centre of the fruit. Let the spikes or stubs be inserted in the 

 trees during the winter, when other duties are not urgent, 

 and let the sheets be prepared long before they will be want- 

 ed. Then, by appropriating a little time daily to the work 

 of extermination, the fruit can be saved at a small expense. 



United Efforts for Extermination. As the curculio has 

 wings and can fly no one knows how far or not how far 

 near neighbors should make a united effort to capture every 



