FRUITS. VARIETIES AND CULTURE. 423 







that hangs over a beaten path, a hard, paved surface, a 

 pond of water, or pigsty, where the larva would be unable 

 to enter the soil or would be destroyed by enemies. It is 

 not so destructive in clayey or hard soils. The remedy 

 that has hitherto proved most successful is to pave the 

 ground so that the grub cannot enter it to complete his 

 transformation. Picking or sweeping up the fruit as fast 

 as it drops, and boiling it for pigs, before the worm can 



enter the earth, has also 

 been found beneficial; 

 likewise jarring the tree 

 (by striking sharply 

 with a mallet on the 

 stump of a limb removed 

 for the purpose) as soon 

 as the fruit is the size of 

 a pea, and collecting the 

 insects on a white sheet 

 as they fall, and destroy- 

 ing them. As the in- 

 sects are torpid in the 

 morning, that is the best 

 time for the operation, 

 which should be kept 



Fig. 116. CURCULIO MAGNIFIED. MI i 



up until the iruit be- 



begins to ripen. Plant all stone fruits in an enclosure by 

 themselves in* which pigs and poultry are admitted ; these 

 will collect the fruit as fast as it falls, and tread the ground 

 firmly together, so that it is not easy for the insects to 

 enter it. None of these methods will be fully effectual 

 if there are neglected trees near by from which the insect 

 may emigrate. The most reliable of them is jarring the 

 trees, and destroying the insects daily ; the next is giving 

 access to a large flock of ducks and chickens, which, 

 destroying the perfect insect, are a much more efficient 

 remedy than the pigs alone. It is, perhaps, fortunate to 



