1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



449 



land, their vast increase in the past few years. Now 

 let us hear from ^iew England, and see if she can- 

 not be galvanized out of her deep-seated apathy. 

 Mr. F. tells you the average soil of New England 

 is better than Old England, and there, they get for- 

 ty bushels of wheat to the acre. If any of your far- 

 mer subscribers have been raising wheat, I would 

 like to hear from them through your excellent paper. 

 jVew York, July 28th, 1857. H. Poor. 



For the New England Farmer. 



HABITS OF THE CURCULIO. 



Mr. Brown : — In your reply to the inquiry of 

 your correspondent, "O. H.," of Lebanon, Me., in 

 respect to the habits of the curculio, you say, that 

 "The young grub leaves the apple, goes into the 

 ground, and comes forth a perfect beetle, or curcu- 

 lio, the next year." This I am aware is a common 

 opinion. From my owa ob.-ervation, and from 

 what I have read, I am inclined to the belief that 

 it does not remain in the ground during the winter. 

 As the ravages of this insect extend, its habits be- 

 come of importance to every fruit-grower, who has 

 any disposition to assert his dominion over these 

 "creeping things." 



On page 197, vol. II., Monthly Farmer, is an ac- 

 count by Dr. E. Sanborn, of Andover, Mass., of the 

 most systematic and thorough experiments with the 

 curculio that I have seen reported. In relation to 

 the re-production of the insect, he says : 



"The plums which have been bitten by this in- 

 sert, and deposited in jars June 28th, produced, on 

 the 28th of July, one curculio; on the 30th, three ; 

 and the number increased for several successive 

 days. These jars were set in a window with a 

 southern aspect, but shaded from the sun. On the 

 5th of August, the plums deposited in other jars at 

 the same time, but sunk in the coldest location in 

 the garden, produced curculios. I attended care- 

 fully to this experiment, to satisfy myself and others 

 in relation to a question asked by Hon. Mr. Cal- 

 houn when the subject was discussed last winter at 

 the agricultural meetings. 



"It was then intimated that these insects come 

 from the earth in the same season in Avhich they 

 enter it, and this was attempted to be proved by the 

 fact that they had been seen to, when buried in 

 earth in ajar. But the inquiry was made, whether 

 this fact was not owing to their exposure in thejar 

 to a warm temperature, and whether, if buried in 

 the cold earth, they would not remain there during 

 the winter. 



"However cold the position, or late the deposit of 

 these grubs, in about six weeks they return to the 

 surface perfectly furnished, winged, and equipped 

 for their work of destruction. I come to this con- 

 clusion from manyexperiments, and much research. 

 For two seasons I have had an opportunity of wit- 

 nessing the daily changes of this insect, from the 

 moment it leaves the fruit till it reappears. I know 

 the order and time of its appearance, and have it 

 preserved in twelve or fourteen of its different 

 stages, showing what changes it undergoes from 

 day to day. 



"From the great variety of jars and positions in 

 which the grub of this insect was preserved in 1848, 

 not one curculio has appieared this year, (1849.) 

 In the latter part of May, broad covers were placed 

 under trees which were subject to their ravages 



last year, from which fruit fell and deposited them 

 in the ground, but not a single curculio was caught 

 in them, proving conclusively that they do not come 

 up from the ground, as is generally supposed. 



"Also, peaches bitten by the curculio were put 

 into a keg half filled with earth, and placed in a 

 cool, shady place in my garden. In due time, tliirty 

 or forty curculios made their appearance beneath 

 the network which covered the top of it. The de- 

 cayed fruit was removed, and the insects kept con- 

 fined as before. In three or four weeks, all of them 

 were found dead on the surface of ihe earth, none 

 having re-entered it. These and many similar ex- 

 periments which I need not at present describe, sat- 

 isfy me that neither the curcuUo nor its grub bur- 

 row in the ground during the winter ; and, conse- 

 quently, that the common practice of guarding 

 against its ravages by various operations in the soil, 

 rests on a false theory, and is productive of no val- 

 uable results. Truth alone can make us free, and 

 crown our efibrts with success." 



In the next volume of the Farmer, Mr. Cole 

 says, (page 235,) "The worm enters the earth, where 

 it remains five or six weeks. It is supposed that 

 some remain until the next season." And in an ar- 

 ticle from the Western Horticultural Review, on 

 page 224, same volume, the writer says : "I have 

 taken the above mentioned fruits," — apple, plum, 

 pear, peach, apricot, cherry and grape — "separate- 

 ly, placed each in separate boxes of earth, and from 

 four to six weeks the change from the larva to the 

 perfect curculio would be complete." 



The object of this article is not to answer, but 

 simply to repeat the inquiry, Where does the cur- 

 culio spend the winter ? 



Winchester, August, 1857. s. F. 



CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 



We observe in the agricultural papers, occasional 

 facetious remarks about this plant. A writer in the 

 Country Gentleman, who dates August 1, says his 

 "cane now measures from 5 to 15 inches in height, 

 planted at the time of planting corn." Others have 

 their jokes about the erection of mills for crushing 

 the cane, reducing the price of molasses and sugar, 

 &c., &c. Very well. We like a little fun as well 

 as any body, and can grow fat on it as fast. So if 

 the jokers find themselves more amiable for "giv- 

 ing way to their feelings," why let them joke, if 

 they will. 



If there had been agricultural journals when the 

 potato was introduced — that outlandish farrian root 

 — we suppose jokers would have been found to 

 amuse themselves about it, and prejudice the pub- 

 lic mind against giving it a fair trial ! 



An experiment with the sugar cane as an article 

 for fodder, or for extracting its juices, need not sub- 

 ject any farmer to an expense which shall be in the 

 least degree injurious to him, and it may result in 

 an immense benefit to the human race. What, 

 then, can be the object in pre-judging, and discour- 

 aging a trial of it ? Why not say the same of 

 grafting and budding, and of the various attempts 

 which are constantly going on to introduce new 



