OF FRUIT TREES. Ill 



;i The curculio delights most in the smooth- 

 skinned stoned fruits, such as nectarines, plums, 

 apricots, &c. when they abound on a farm: 

 they nevertheless attack the rough-skinned peach, 

 the apple, pear, and quince. The instinctive saga- 

 city of these creatures directs them especially to 

 the fruits most adapted to their purpose. The 

 stone fruits more certainly perish by the wounds 

 made by these insects, so as to fall in due time to 

 the ground, and afford an opportunity to the young 

 maggot to hide itself in the earth. Although mul- 

 titudes of seed fruits fall, yet many recover from 

 their wounds, which heal up, with deeply indented 

 scars. This probably disconcerts the curculio, in 

 its intended course to the earth. Be this as it 

 may, certain it is, that pears are less liable to fall, 

 and are less injured by this insect than apples. 

 Nectarines, plums, &c. in most districts of our coun- 

 try, where the curculio has gained an establish- 

 ment, are utterly destroyed, unless special means 

 are employed for their preservation. Cherries 

 escape better, on account of their rapid progress to 

 maturity, and their abundant crops: the curculio 

 can only puncture a small part of them, during the 

 short time they han^ upon the tree. These de- 

 structive insects continue their depredations from 

 the first of May, until autumn. Our fruits, collec- 

 tively estimated, must, therefore, be depreciated 

 more than half their value. 



" It is supposed the curculio is not only injurious 

 above ground, but also in its retreat, below the sur- 

 face of the earth, by preying on the roots of our 

 fruit trees. We know that beetles have, in some in- 

 stances, abounded in such a manner as to endanger 

 whole forests. Our fruit trees often die from 

 manifest injuries done to the roots by insects, and 

 by no insect more probably than the curculio. In 

 districts where this insect abounds, cherry tree* 

 .and apple trees, which disconcert it most above. 



