ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 379 



set fire to it in circles as much as possible, 

 so that the insects cannot escape from the 

 ring of fire, but be driven by the heat 

 and smoke into the centre, where they 

 will eventually perish in the flames. In 

 the Eastern States, where the red-legged 

 grasshopper abounds, the nets already 

 mentioned could be used with advantage, 

 and if the insects have been killed by im- 

 mersion in boiling water, they could be 

 given as food to poultry, etc., kept in en- 

 closures where they cannot find any in- 

 sects. The only trouble yet found with 

 this net is that it sometimes collects a 

 great deal of rubbish, such as leaves, 

 sticks, etc., and the centre opening is lia- 

 ble to become clogged with such sub- 

 stances if not examined and cleaned out 

 every few minutes. 



THE QUINCE CURCULIO.— This in- 

 sect has been called the Quince Curculio 

 by Dr. Trimble, and though it breeds in 

 other fruits, the name is a good one, as it 

 will enable us to distinguish it at once 

 from our other fruit snout-beetles. 



Though belonging to the same genus 

 as our Plum Curculio, and having very 

 much the same form, as may be seen by 

 referring to the figure, (Figure 19 a side 

 view; b back view), yet it differs remark- 

 ably in its habits 

 from both of the 

 preceding wee- 

 vils. It is, like 

 them, an indigen- 

 ous species, and 

 its original fruit 

 was evidently the 

 wild Haw, which 

 in the West it yet 



Fig. 19. 



seems to prefer to the cultivated fruits, 

 But in the East it has become very inju- 

 rious to the Quince, and, as we might 

 naturally expect, also attacks the Pear, 

 and especially the Lawrence and other 

 late varieties. 



Remedies. — Very fortunately this in- 

 sect drops as readily when alarmed as 

 does the Plum Curculio, and the jarring 

 process will be found just as effectual in 

 catching it, with the additional advantage 

 that the jarring need only be carried on 

 for about ten weeks of the year, namely, 

 from about the first of June to the middle 

 of August in this latitude. Moreover, in 

 accordance with its late appearance, we 



find that, according to Dr. Trimble, 

 whenever it attacks pears, it prefers the 

 late ripening varieties. Again, it is, like 

 the Plum Curculio, nocturnal in its hab- 

 its, and secretive during the day, so that 

 the Ransom process will undoubtedly 

 prove effectual with it, if used at the right 

 season. All fruit that falls should be de- 

 stroyed, and as we know that the larva 

 hibernates in the ground, many of them 

 will be injured and destroyed by late stir- 

 ring of the soil. 



GRASS, OR ARMY-WORM. — The 

 grass or army-worm;, ihough it appears 

 every season, is not always troublesome. 

 The eggs are probabiy deposited at the 

 base of perennial grass-stalks, and the 

 larvae at times appear in immense multi- 

 tudes in the Northern, Middle and West- 

 ern States, where they destroy grass, grain 

 and other crops. Leaving one field, after 

 having eaten it out, they march or crawl 

 to those in the neighborhood in search of 

 food; hence the vulgar name of army 

 worm. The insect by day hides in 

 tufts of grass. When the larvae are 

 migratory, or on the march for food, their 

 march is stated to be at the rate of two 

 to six rods per hour. These pests are 

 said to multiply much faster in dry sea- 

 sons when the swamps are dry, and when 

 they are thus multiplied a wet season and 

 overflowing swamps drive the insects 

 from their lurking places in flocks, and 

 they alight here and there over the coun- 

 try. There is generally but one brood in 

 the Northern States in one season, but in 

 the South there are probably two, the 

 last of which hybernates as pupae. Sev- 

 eral remedies have been proposed for 

 their prevention and destruction, among 

 which may be mentioned burning over 

 the meadows in winter or very early in 

 spring, or plowing late in the fall or early 

 in spring, which will probably destroy all 

 their eggs. Judicious ditching will pre- 

 vent their migration from infested fields 

 to those as yet unjured, and these ditch- 

 es should be dug, if possible, with almost 

 perpendicular sides, or sloping inward 

 from the top on the side to be protected, 

 so that the caterpillars cannot readily 

 crawl out. When the ditches are filled, 

 with the struggling caterpillars, if dry 

 straw is scattered over them and fire ap- 

 plied it will kill them and clear the ditch, 

 for another lot. 



