v£l)c Javmcr's iitontljln ilisitor. 



59 



seem lo some a narrow limit, hut there will be 

 mi difficulty iu proving it fur too broad for the 



limits of a single address. 



The soils which now exist upon the face of 

 our earth, have been produced by u variety of 

 agencies; the chief of these have been, the 

 gradual decomposition and crumbling down of 

 the rocks themselves, and deposition by water. 

 We know that the external outline of the earth 

 has undergone most extensive changes. In some 

 places it has sunk, in others risen. Sometimes 

 it is evident, from the present conformation of 

 surface, that violent currents of water have 

 swept across strata of reeks, wealing away the 

 Uppermost, and transporting their ruins to till up 

 depressions elsewhere. We olten lind strata 

 upheaved and dislocated by accident from below, 

 and in many eases see the inferior rock present- 

 ing itself on the surface, having hurst upwards 

 ill a state of fusion, in spite of every obstacle, 

 Scarcely a region can he found which does not 

 present striking evidences of the throes, convul- 

 sions, and changes, which took place before man 

 became an inhabitant of t'nis planet. It is for 

 geologists to decide, if they can, how long a lime 

 was occupied in these changes; suffice it for our 

 present purpose that they have taken place, ami 

 that they seem to have been especially ordered 

 for our benefit. Had the stratum last deposited 

 or formed, continued unbroken and unchanged 

 around the whole earth, we should have none 

 of the beautiful variety of scenery which now 

 .'reels our eyes on every side ; no alternation of 

 bill anil dale, mountain, plain, and valley, with 

 the attendant variations of climate and produc- 

 tion, which now remind us of perfection itself 



The soil would have been identical in compo- 

 sition over vast districts, if not over the whole 

 earth, being all formed from at least allied spe- 

 cies of rocks. Now as few rocks contain all the 

 material for a good soil, this soil would doubt- 

 less have been imperfectly tilted to sustain most 

 of the plants necessary for our existence ami 

 comfort. When exhausted, too, we. should have 

 had no stores of mineral substances in forms 

 convenient for supplying the deficiency. 



The convulsions of nature, however, have 

 been directed for our good, and they seem lo 

 have continued in a verj long series before this 

 earth was deemed fit for the abode of man. 



Geological researches have shown us the ex- 

 istence of races of animals, that lived and died 

 and succeeded each other in countless myriads. 

 through long and indefinite periods of lime. We 

 find them all changed to stone, entombed in 

 rocky sepulchres. Sometimes the appearance 

 of tlic rock denotes that it was deposiled from ;i 

 calm and quiet sea, where the animals died nat- 

 urally, and in consequence seldom remain whole 

 or unharmed. In other cases life and its func- 

 tions seem to have been suspended by some sud- 

 den change, so that we find large fish with smal- 

 ler ones in their month hut hall' swallowed, and 

 others with their thorny tins yet erect in the ilt- 

 titude of fear or rage with which they received 

 their death shock, when that sudden mysterious 

 destruction came upon them. In some of these 

 periods also, upon that part of the land elevated 

 above the water, there flourished a vegetation ol 

 exceeding luxuriance. 



Internal tires have borne a decided part in all 

 these changes, if they have not been the chief 

 agents. It is well known that even now, as we 

 go towards the centre of the earth, for each foot 

 in depth the boat increasta, indicating interior 

 combustion slid active, in the early history of 

 our globe these fires must have burst (brill many 

 limes. The masses of melted matter may lie 

 plainly seen, penetrating the stratified rocks, fill- 

 ing cracks in their substance, flowing over their 

 surfaces, or upheaving or contorting them. 



I5ut while some rocks were thrust upwards, 

 others sank in corresponding depressions ; and 

 vast currents of water produced by these con- 

 vulsions, seas ami lakes turned out of their he.ls, 

 seem to have swept over the world: completing 

 the scene of confusion by tearing away ami 

 grinding down strata, healing lie: materials to 

 other regions, there to form beds of sand, clay, 

 or gravel, according to the nature of the original 

 rock. The vegetation, at such periods, seems to 

 have been carried into hollows, and buried deep 

 by succeeding or continuing shocks, to form, un- 

 der enormous pressure and a high temperature, 



beds of coal, for the advantage of beings yet to 

 he created. 



Thus all these tremendous revulsions and 

 changes of surface, seem to have been made 

 with the great end of preparing the earth for the 

 habitation of man, making its resources available 

 to him. 



in such a view the globe appears to have been 

 a vast manufactory lor our benefit. Its beds of 

 limestone, of marl, of gypsum, are dispersed in 

 every direction, that they may be accessible to 

 all ; the various composition of lis rocks, produ- 

 ces soils capable of growing every necessary 

 plant; its ores are abundant in proportion as 

 they are the more indispensable for tbe forma- 

 tion of necessary implements; while on the 

 walls of our coal mines, we may still trace the 

 forms of a gigantic vegetation which flourished 

 long ages ago, and was then stored for our use. 



It is not to be supposed that the present sur- 

 face assumed its present shape, in every place at 

 the same time. Some regions, without doubt, 

 became tranquil long before others, hut all must 

 at first have presented a strange naked aspect. 

 There was of course no soil, except in the tract 

 of some former current where mutter in suspen- 

 sion hud been deposited. This appearance of 

 absolute raggedness and sterility, could not have 

 continued long unaltered. Atmospheric influen- 

 ces, heat and cold, moisture and dryness, worked 

 surely then as now, and after a time the most 

 enduring rocks began to crumble. As the de- 

 composing fragments became minute, little 

 patches of soil were formed here and there. 

 If it were on the side of a hill the line particles 

 had a tendency to descend into the hollows, be- 

 ing washed down by the rain. Jn ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, therefore, soil must have first ap- 

 peared in the valleys in every little hollow of the 

 hill sides. The durability of each particular 

 species of rock, had of course much influence 

 upon the readiness with which the soil formed. 

 Thus most of the slates, many limestones and 

 sandstones, soften and decay readily when ex- 

 posed to the air; on these were to be seen soils 

 at a comparatively early period, and such soils 

 soon became deep, lint the granites, and some 

 of the harder limestones, remain almost unchan- 

 ged for a long period of years, and we see i veil 

 at this day that the soils upon those formations 

 are thin, while at frequent intervals project 

 masses of the native rock, yet defying the influ- 

 ence of lime. — Michigan Farmer. 



appointed in the loss of my fruit, I have persua- 

 ded myself to write this article, iu which 1 pro- 

 pose to give your readers my views in relation 

 to the habits of the curculio, as well as the vari- 

 ous remedies which have been suggested to pro- 

 tect the young plum from its fatal attack with 

 the design of not only giving the results of my 

 own observations, hut also lo induce all of your 

 readers who have had any experience in this 

 matter to furnish the public with the same 

 through the columns of the Visitor. 



The habits of the curculio are not yet fully 

 and entirely ascertained, says Mr. Downing in 

 his valuable work entitled the " Fruits and Fruit 

 Trees of America "; but it is well known that 

 the insect deposits its eggs in the young plum 

 in which they hatch a small white grub. This 

 little grub as soon as hutched begins to eat its 

 way to the heart. The eggs are deposited in the 

 plum by the curculio when it is about one half 

 grown, anil it is hut a few days after the egg is 

 deposited before the young grub makes its ap- 

 pearance and commences its destructive work. 

 As soon as it reaches the heart, the plum shrivels 

 and drops. Soon after the plum falls, the grub 

 which has now reached pretty nearly its full size 

 following tbe order of its nature, escapes from 

 the worthless plum into the earth, where it un- 

 doubtedly goes through the change from the 

 grub to to the beetle, and there lays until the in- 

 creasing warmth of the next spring invites it 

 forth to resume its work of destruction. Jt comes 

 forth from the ground a winged insect of the 

 beetle kind, ht is very shy ; so much so, that it 

 will roll itself up looking something like a raisin 

 stone and fall to the ground from the tree upon 

 its being shook or jarred. 



Having closely and carefully watched it, I have 

 seen how it performs its work. In the first place 

 the insect crawls out upon the plum, and eats 

 out a small new moon-shaped bed in which it 

 deposits its egg-, and then immediately crawls on 

 to the next, and then goes through the same pro- 

 cess and so on until iis work is done, which 

 however is scarcely ever completed until every 

 one has been punctured. Jt does not work 

 merely by day, but as I believe also by night, 

 and 1 am very much inclined to believe it flies 

 abroad more in the night than in the day time; 

 and herein I believe many horticulturists who 

 have written upon the habits of this insect have 

 made a great mistake in asserting that the cur- 

 culio never uses ils wings. But of this 1 will 

 speak more soon. It does not confine itself in 

 its attacks entirely to the plum, but will when 

 they cannot be found, attack the apple, cherry, 

 pear, &c. Yet in the order of nature the juices 

 of the young plum seem to be the most natural 

 food they will select for their young. 



This insect scarcely ever so far t.s my obser- 

 vation extends deposits more than one egg in a 

 plum when there are plums sufficient for its 

 purpose or use; hut if by chance that one is 

 disturbed, ii w ill supplj iis place forthwith. This 

 I have proved by culling away with my pen 

 knife the small scar or bed in which the egg is 

 deposiled. In a short time alter in every in- 

 stance the crescent-shaped puncture iu another 

 place upon the same plum would denote that the 

 work was done. 



Jt flies from tree to tree and from orchard to 

 orchard iu search of what appears to he the nat- 

 ural place for the deposit of its eggs. Some 

 so much that the subsequent cold weather in cultivators deny this, and assert that it does not 

 February killed them all. Feeling no little dis- | fly at all. Others admit that it does fly, but only 



Fur '.lie Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 The Curculio or Piam-Weevii. 



Hon. J. Hill — Sir: Within the last eight years 

 I have taken some considerable pains to procure 

 and cultivate for my own use and pleasure the 

 very best varieties of the plum kind I have been 

 able to find at huine or abroad. 



My trees have all done finely, and I have now 

 in as good a condition as any I have ever seen 

 some fifteen or more kinds, some of which are 

 saiil to ripen their fruit as early as July. 



They Imve been selected with the design that 

 they shall ripen iu the order of their kind dining 

 the space of three months in the year at least, 

 and I have anticipated hitherto no sin. ill degree 

 of pleasure iu lite use of their rich and luscious 

 fruit. But I begin to fear that I shall be in a 

 measure disappointed. In the year 184G many 

 of ih'-m blossomed and formed their early fruit; 

 but the curculio spoiled them all. The next 

 spring many of them covered themselves with a 

 great abundance of beautiful blossoms, and set a 

 plentiful crop, which grew finely until about the 

 tenth of .lime, when they were simultaneously 

 attacked by the curculio and in the course of 

 about three weeks were almost wholly destroyed. 

 Only one tree which was the Royal Native ripen- 

 ed a single perfect plumb. Last year there were 

 no blossoms, the warm weather of the previous 

 December and January having swoolen the buds 



