2IO Notes and Gleanings. 



Destroying the Curculio. — We are indebted to the Benton Harbor Palla- 

 dium for a copy of an Essay on the Natural Habits and Mode of Destroying 

 the Curculio, delivered by W. B. Ransom, St. Joseph, Michigan, before the 

 Berrien County Horticultural Association. Mr, Ransom will be remembered as 

 the discoverer of the method of trapping the curculio by means of pieces of 

 bark, bits of board, stones, etc., placed at the foot of the tree. He is still confi- 

 dent in the efficacy of his method, and as it may be new to many of our readers, 

 we will say, that to be successful the ground must first be made perfectly smooth 

 all round the base of the tree for a distance of two feet and a half, so as to have 

 no hiding-place in the ground for the insects. Then place all round the collar 

 of the tree, close to it and close to the ground, pieces of chip, bark, board, lath, 

 rags, old leather, or similar material, that will serve for a hiding-place. Mr. 

 Ransom likes best pieces of old dead black-oak bark, from two to four inches 

 square, and that which has fallen off, and worn the moss and little fibrous bark 

 off, so as to have no cracks for the curculio to hide in, should be chosen. One 

 side is concave ; the edges are generally uneven, so that when put up to the tree 

 they give holes for the beetle to crawl under next to the tree when descending. 

 This hollow in the inner side of the bark, when placed on the smooth ground, 

 gives a sufficient vacuum for them to attach themselves to the bark and just clear 

 the ground, which they seem to prefer. The traps want but a small space be- 

 neath, say a quarter of an inch, and all the edges close to the ground only just 

 so that a curculio can crawl under it in several places. Mr. Ransom prefers bark 

 because it has a concave side, and does not warp with the sun, while most other 

 traps warp, and leave the edges too high and the centre too close to the ground. 

 This is the case with pieces of board, lath, chips, etc. Corn-cobs are objection- 

 able, as aflbrding hiding-places from which it is difficult to dislodge the insects in 

 order to destroy them. Observation. and experience will teach any one to suc- 

 ceed. The traps must all be set over after a rain, as it closes the edges with 

 dirt washed up around them. The traps must be examined every day and the 

 curculios killed. They will generally adhere to the trap, but may often be found 

 on the ground underneath. 



Though Mr. Ransom believes in the superiority of his method, he makes no 

 objection to following it up with catchers, sheets, and any and all means that will 

 destroy the curculios ; but says, " Let all these be used ! Do not discard any 

 means that kills a single curculio ! " And so say we. 



The Mountain Laurel {Kalmia latifolia\ known also as Calico-bush or 

 Spoon-wood, is one of our most ornamental flowering shrubs. It has been gen- 

 erally thought difficult of cultivation, but we have seen at Messrs. Hovey & Go's. 

 nurseries, Cambridge, Mass., a display of flowers far exceeding in beauty any 

 we have ever seen growing wild. The plants were the remains of a lot of nur- 

 sery stock which had grown up ten or fifteen feet high, and at the time we saw 

 them were covered with flowers, many of which were remarkable for depth of 

 color, — far more brilliant than the wild ones, and from this down through every 

 shade to pure white. The soil was well adapted to their growth, being naturally 

 boggy, but they had no more shade than they afforded each other. 



