158 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the Porter, and not uncommon in several other kinds when ripe, 

 especially those of thin skins. It is the young of a dipterous 

 insect, or two-winged fly, belonging to the same order as the 

 pernicious Hessian fly and wheat-midge. Dr. Fitch has described 

 this insect under the name of Molohrns mail, or the apple-midge. 

 • The adult is little more than an eighth of an inch in length, 

 almost black above, yellowish beneath, with hyaline, smoky 

 wings. They are supposed to attack only those apples which 

 have been previously penetrated by the last mentioned insect, 

 the coreworin, so that the same remedies will be applicable to 

 both cases. 



Within a few years it has been noticed that the common plum- 

 weevil or curculio has extended its depredations to the apple, 

 and several other fruits, as well as to that from which it derives 

 its common name. The perfect insect is well known to the 

 majority of horticulturists as a dark brown or blackish beetle, 

 with long snout, about a fifth of an inch long, and simulating 

 death when disturbed, folding its feet and beak beneath the body 

 and presenting the appearance of a bud. The larva is a small, 

 whitish, footless grub, which bores into the interior of the fruit, 

 producing the same effect as that of the coreworm. The reme- 

 dies hitherto proposed, have been to syringe the fruit with 

 whitewash, strong soapy water, or other offensive preparations ; 

 to collect and treat the fallen fruit as recommended for the core- 

 worm^ to jar them frequently from the trees, turning in the 

 swine and poultry at the same time, &c. If, as Dr. Fitch sug- 

 gests, however, the larvee live during the winter, beneath the 

 outer bark of the smaller limbs, their presence may be easily 

 detected by the crescent-shaped marks on the outside, and the 

 spring brood annihilated by burning the limbs or thoroughly 

 ru})bing them with soap. 



I have mentioned already only a part of the insects which 

 infest our fruit-trees, and have endeavored to give some idea of 

 the great variety of habits, among the number of voracious crea- 

 tures, for the support of which the farmer and gardener are 

 annually taxed. But as my space is limited, I will proceed to 

 recapitulate a few of the best methods of destroying these pests, 

 or preventing their ravages by rendering their food unpalatable. 



Firstly, we shoifld make ourselves acquainted with the partic- 

 ular species, and the time and manner of their transformations, 



