316 THE PLUM. 



About the time the young fruit attains the size of a pea, the 

 curculio begins its work of destruction. It 

 makes a small crescent-shaped incision in 

 the young fruit, and lays its egg in the 

 opening. The presence of the egg may be 

 easily detected by these incisions upon the 

 surface ; the annexed figure, (^44,) repre- 

 sents one of these magnified twice in diame- 

 ter. The egg soon hatches into a small white larva, which 

 enters the body of the fruit and feeds upon it, causing, 

 usually, its premature fall to the ground. 



The period at which the young fruit falls, after being 

 punctured, varies with its age at the time of the injury. The 

 earlier portions drop in about two weeks ; but if the stone 

 is hard when the egg is laid, the fruit remains till near the 

 usual period of ripening, sometimes presenting a fair and 

 smooth exterior, but spoiled by the worm within. 



The insect, soon after the fall of the fruit, makes its way 

 into the earth, where it is supposed to remain till the fol- 

 lowing spring, when it is transformed into the perfect in- 

 sect or beetle, to lay its eggs and perpetuate its race. In- 

 stances, however, have occurred, where the transformation 

 has taken place within twenty days of the fall of the fruit. 



The curculio travels by flying, but only during quite 

 warm weather, or at the heat of the day. The insects most- 

 ly confine themselves to certain trees, or to the same orchard. 

 But the fact that newly bearing and isolated orchards are 

 soon attacked, clearly shows that in occasional instances 

 they must travel considerable distances. Indeed, they have 

 been known to be wafted on the wind for a half mile or 

 more, the windward side of orchards being most infested, 

 immediately after strong winds from a thickly planted plum 

 neighborhood. In the cool of the morning, they are nearly 

 torpid, and can scarcely fly, and crawl but slowly ; hence, 

 at this time of the day they are most easily destroyed. 



Their flight appears to be never more than a few feet 

 from the ground, and successful attempts have been made 

 to shut them out of fruit gardens by means of a tight board 

 fence, nine or ten feet high, entered by a tight gate. 



The. remedies for the curculio are various. They are of 

 three distinct methods ; the first, repelling or excluding 



