THE CURCULIO. 39 



PLATE VII. 



1. The Canvas. 



2. Long Stretcher. 



3. One of the Short Stretchers. 



4. Slip to Straddle the Tree. 



5. The Mop Stick padded for jarring the branches of large trees. 



6. The place where a branch has been cut off, leaving an inch or two of stump for striking upon with a 



mallet. 

 7.* Plum with a Curculio as it appears after the first blow or jar having withdrawn her proboscis and doubled 



up her limbs ready for the fall to the ground when the jar is repeated. 

 8 & 9. The Curculios and dead Plum buds showing their resemblance. 



THIS Plate is an illustration of the only effectual way of managing the Curculio 

 when it comes upon the fruit. " An ounce of prevention is said to be worth a pound 

 of cure." But if there has been no effort at prevention, the canvas, mallet, and mop- 

 stick become a necessity. This manner of mastering the Curculio involves much 

 labor. Few will undertake it, and many who do will not persevere to the end. 



My plans of fighting the Curculio are few and simple. Destroy all in the embryo 

 condition, if possible. Every fruit, whether nectarine, apricot, plum, apple, pear, or 

 quince, containing the grub of the future Curculio, falls prematurely from the tree. 

 This grub remains in that fallen fruit long enough to give plenty of time for its 

 destruction. All our domestic animals, horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep, will eat these 

 fruits if they have the chance. Poultry are also recommended, but are not to be 

 depended on except for cherries. Where it is impracticable to use animals for this 

 purpose, let all these young fruits be gathered by hand as soon as possible after they 

 fall, and then destroyed. They may be fed to the stock or burnt. Let there be no 

 exceptions on the whole farm. Some Apple or Cherry tree may stand in an out-of-the- 

 way place, an unsuspected breeder of this pest for years. If the fruit on such a tree 

 is not valuable enough to have it attended to in this way cut it down at once. By 

 all means cut down all useless or superfluous Cherry trees, and see that the remaining 



