156 



THE GEKESEE FARMER. 



their operations, some say, till the first of August. 

 Making a crescent-shaped' incision in the skin of the 

 fruit, they lay an egg in the puncture, and then seek 

 another place of deposit. The fruit dropping pre- 

 maturely, by reason of the puncture and the growth 

 of the grub contained in it, the grub burrows into 

 the ground, and in about three weeks completes its 

 transformations and comes out in the beetle form." 



I'lie following extract from a coiumunication by 

 David Thomas^ in \^ol. II. of the old series of the 

 FARsrEE, describes the effects of shaking, jarring and 

 striking the tree, respectively : " On shaking the tree 

 well, I'caught five curculios; jarring it with my hand, 

 I caught twelve more; and on striking it with a stone, 

 eight more dropped on the sheet. I was now con- 

 vinced that I had been in an error; and calling in the 

 necessary assistance, and using a hammer to jar the 

 tree violently, we caught in less than an hour more 

 than two hundred and sixty of these insects." To 

 prevent injuiy to the bark of the tree, a small limb 

 may be sawed off, leaving a stub about an inch in 

 length, which is to be struck with the hammer or 

 mallet, &c. 



W. H. SoDTHwicK, of New Baltimore New Tork, 

 in 1851 had veiy handsome Plum trees, of good size, 

 and of healthy and vigorous growth. Several of 

 these trees were enclosed in yards where fo\vls were 

 kept The trees in the poultry-yards were loaded 

 with plums, while on the trees not enclosed almost all 

 the fruit was lost by the sting of the curcuUo. 



In 1840, on a \'isit to a friend in Lockport, N. Y., 

 I noticed about a dozen very thrifty and handsome 

 Plum trees in a yard where his hogs were kept. The 

 trees were almost broken down by the weight of fruit, 

 while another tree, outside the yard, showed only here 

 and there a plum. 



L. YouxG, Esq., of Louisville, Ky., tried the ex- 

 periment of syringing the fruit, as soon as danger 

 was apprehended, with a coating of thin lime-wash, 

 considerably more diluted than for white-wash. It 

 was necessary to repeat after a shower, or after a 

 beaAy dew, but the preventive was quite effectual. 



B. J. Harvey (see Michigan Farmer, 18.53) tried 

 the experiment of catching them in sheets, for three 

 mornings in succession — the first time catching 500, 

 the second 200, and the third 40 curculios ; and he 

 says but little of the fruit was punctured after this. 

 An experiment similar to Mr. Young's with lime-wash 

 ifl also given in the journal last quoted. 



there have tried with success the throwing ot 

 flower of sulphur in a vessel containing burning char- 

 coal, and holding the same under flie tree. 



J. J. Thomas, in the Cultivator for 1851, gives an 

 account of an experiment \vith lime wash made by a 

 neighbor, to which he was an eye-witness. He says 

 that nectarines, plums and apricots were thoroughly 

 syringed with thin lime-wash, and as often as removed 

 by rain or heavy dew, re-applied. Special attention 

 was given to apply the wash with a brush to each 

 nectarine, and the result was that the full number of 

 six nectarines were saved on a tree under which a 

 young calf had been confined ; and he queries whether 

 the favorable results reported from the use of lime 

 may not be owing to something else than lime-wash. 

 A gentleman in Philadelphia wishing to stimulate 

 & ccnple of old Plum trees which stood among others 



in his garden, directed his gardener to place around 

 each tree a couple of barrowfuls of fresh horse mar- 

 nure from the stable. This was done, and suffered to 

 lie thus a fortnight. The result was that those two 

 trees bore a good crop of fruit, while the fruit of every 

 other Plum tree in his garden was as usual stung and 

 destroyed by the curculio. 



One writer sjieaks of having tied a rope attached 

 to a limb of a Plum tree to the handle of a pump, so 

 that whenever any one might wish to obtain water 

 the tree would be shaken by the rope attached. The 

 expedient was successful. 



From the foregoing details we may infer that un- 

 sleeping \ngilance and war to the death are the price 

 we must pay for the privilege of having good, well- 

 grown fruit. True, it is some trouble to catch the 

 little rascals, and it takes time ; but any thing worth 

 having, is worth time and trouble in obtaining it. As 

 soon as the blossoms are fairly set, commence your 

 search. For a month, at dusk, or early in the morn- 

 ing, jar your trees thoroughly ; the curculio will 

 double himself up, and fall on the cloth, looking some- 

 what like the dead bud of the tree. Either crush 

 him between your thumb and finger, or pour the con- 

 tents of your sheets into a vessel of boiling water, 

 and you may safely hope for a sweet and luscious re- 

 ward. Yours, truly, Cultor. 



SEEDLESS APPLES. 



Mr. Editor : — In perusing the Report from the 

 Patent Office, I have discovered the gTcatest acquisi- 

 tion on the culture of apples that I ever before heard 

 of You may be acquainted with the particulars ; 

 but if you are it will not cost you anji-hing but tlie 

 time of reading it. It is an apple without a core. 

 You mil find the facts on page 232 of the Report 

 If you are acquainted with such an apple, be so kind 

 as to pubHsh it. After reading the account, the first 

 impression on my mind was to write to Mr. Cope, 

 and i-equest him to send me a few scions ; but, upon 

 reflection, I concluded to inquire of you, sir, in the 

 first place. If there is such a fruit in Rochester, in 

 another year we can have some. 



I spend much of my time in reading and writing, 

 generally to inform or to get information, but some- 

 times for diversion or amusement. I abhor idleness, 

 and am sensible that what I do must be done quickly. 

 I have been much pleased by reading the Report, and 

 the Abstract of the Seventh Census. 



I have a nice Plum tree in the door-yard, before 

 the house. About two weeks ago, my wife, now in 

 her 79th year, discovered a large bunch, three or four 

 inches long, on a limb within her reach, which she 

 scraped off ; it was only a thin shell, and out came a 

 a live cateii^illar. Yours, with respect, 



Holland, Erie Co., N. Y. H. Johnson. 



"Apples without seeds" are hke potato plants 

 without seed-balls, corn plants and the rudiments of 

 cobs without grain, and sugar cane that rarely forms 

 a single seed in Louisiana, Florida or Texas. Any 

 vegetable may fail to organize its natural seed hy 

 some defect in constitutional power, in climate, or 

 soil. It is, however, an unnatural condition, and 

 tends to the extinction of the family as a genen^j 

 principle. — Ed. 



