Feb.] THE ORCHARD. J43 



and continue to produce no fruit, though having arrived at a pro- 

 per age for that purpose, they may be forced into a bearing state 

 by opening the ground around them and cutting through a few of 

 their largest roots, but especially the descending ones; the depriva- 

 tion which will arise from this, of their extraordinary resources, 

 which was the cause of their running into such a luxuriaucyof 

 wood, will soon bring them into a bearing state; but be careful 

 that you smooth with a chisel or other sharp instrument, the roots 

 at the amputations, and not have them in a mangled state, which 

 might bring on diseases that probably would destroy the trees. 



The following extracts taken from a communication made by that 

 ingenious citizen, Doctor James Teuton, of Wilmington, Dela- 

 ware, and published in the first American edition of the Domestic 

 Encyclopaedia, by Messrs. Birch and Small, Philadelphia, are wor- 

 thy of attention; and the laudable efforts of that gentleman, both 

 in agricultural and horticultural pursuits, are highly meritorious 

 and deserving of emulation. 



"Curculio, a genus of insects belonging to the Coleoptcra or 

 Beetle order. The species are said to be very numerous. The im- 

 mense damage done by an insect of this tribe to the fruits of this 

 country, of which there is no similar account in Europe, has given 

 rise to a conjecture with some naturalists, that we have a peculiar 

 and very destructive species in America. 



"The manner in which this insect injures and destroys our fruits, 

 is by its mode of propagation. Early in the spring, about the time 

 when the fruit trees are in blossom, the Curculiones ascend in swarms 

 from the earth, crawl up the trees, and as the several fruits advance, 

 they puncture the rind or skin with their pointed rostra, and de- 

 posit their embryos in the wounds thus inflicted. The maggotthus 

 bedded in the fruit, preys upon its pulp and juices, until in most 

 instances the fruit perishes, falls to the ground, and the insect 

 escaping from so unsafe a residence, makes a sure retreat into the 

 earth; where, like other beetles, it remains in the form of a grub or 

 worm during the winter, ready to be metamorphosed into a bug or 

 beetle as the spring advances. Thus every tree furnishes its own 

 enemy; for although these bugs have manifestly the capacity of 

 flying, they appear very reluctant in the use of their wings; and 

 perhaps never employ them but when necessity compels them to 

 migrate. It is a fact, that two trees of the same kind may stand 

 in the nearest possible neighbourhood, not to touch each other, that 

 one shall have its fruit destroyed by the Curculio, and the other be 

 uninjured, merely from contingent circumstances which prevent 

 the insects from crawling up the one, while they are uninterrupted 

 from climbing the other. 



"The Curculio delights most in the smooth skinned stone fruits, 

 such as nectarines, plumbs, apricots, &c. when they abound on a 

 farm: they nevertheless attack the rough skinned peach, the apple, 

 pear, and quince. The instinctive sagacity of these creatures di- 

 rects them especially to the fruits most adapted to their purpose. 

 The stone fruits more certainly perish by the wounds made by these 

 insects, so as to fall in due time to the ground and afford an oppor- 



