460 DISEASES AND INSECTS. 



that season. We destroy them by throwing fine earth 

 taken up with the hand among the trees, and by ashes or 

 slaked lime, when the earth is not sufficiently dry and 

 fine. The caustic properties of lime and ashes render 

 them more certainly destructive to the slug, and they 

 should always be used in preference to common earth, 

 where only a few trees are to be gone over. 



A liberal syringing with the tobacco and soap liquid 

 recommended for the aphis, but in a weaker state, is ser- 

 viceable after the ashes and lime. It must be remembered 

 that one application will seldom be sufficient. Some 

 escape even to the third or fourth ; but in all cases the 

 warfare should be sustained whilst one remains. They 

 are generally most troublesome in warm and dry seasons. 



TJie Currant- Worm. This is a small, light, yellow worm 

 that eats the leaves of currants and gooseberries in June. 

 The remedy is to dust the leaves with powdered white 

 hellebore, as soon as it first appears, and repeat daily till 

 the worm disappears. We have also used dry fresh- 

 slaked lime successfully. 



The Curculio or Plum - Weevil. This is a small grayish- 

 brown beetle, nearly a quarter of an inch long ; the wing- 

 covers form two little humps on the back, which give it 

 a roundish appearance, and it has a long crooked snout, 

 well adapted to its destructive propensities. They can 

 fly, but are not active; and by jarring the part on which 

 they stand, suddenly, they fall to the ground, draw in 

 their legs, and appear dead. It deposits its egg in a 

 semicircular incision which it makes in the young fruit ; 

 it there hatches, eats into the fruit, and causes it to fall 

 while yet green. In some places it destroys the entire 

 crop of plums, apricots, and nectarines, and attacks even 

 the cherry and the apple. The peach, even, is not wholly 

 exempt, notwithstanding its coat of down. Almost every 

 remedy that ingenuity can devise has been tried. This 

 whole book would not contain what has been written 



