STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 105 



boxes or barrels in which apples have been stored should be care- 

 fully examined for the cocoons of those worms which were in the 

 apples when they were gathered. They may often be found under 

 the hoops of the barrels. 



To give you briefly a summary : The codling moth is an im- 

 ported insect. Place no confidence in the light and bottle sys- 

 tems, but rely on bandages; have your bandages on by the first of 

 June; examine them six weeks after the blossoms fall, and then 

 four times subsequently, at intervals of ten days, and then once 

 when the fruit is gathered ; be sure to destroy the cocoons in cellar 

 or storehouse ; and lastly, encourage winter birds." 



Plum Curculio — [Gonotrachelus nenuphar, Herbst.) 



Destructive as the codling moth is to the apple, even more in- 

 jurious is the curculio to the plum. It is the greatest obstacle to 

 the successful cultivation of this fruit. If unmolested, it not only 

 severely thins out the fruit, but often destroys the whole crop of 

 the choicest varieties. This insect belongs to the weevils having 

 a snout, and is single brooded. 



*"The little dark brown beetle or weevil makes a crescent-shaped 

 slit in the side of the young fruit, by means of the snout with which 

 it is provided, raising the convex side and depositing an egg under 

 it. Each female has from fifty to one hundred eggs, and deposits 

 from five to ten a day; her activity varying with the temperature. 

 The egg hatches out in a short time, and the larvte eats into the 

 stone, when the fruit falls prematurely from the tree and the larvae 

 escapes, making its way into the ground, where it undergoes its 

 transformations. After the beetles come from the ground, they 

 feed on fruit as long as that lasts, gouging holes into it with their 

 snouts. After the fruit is gone they feed on the leaves of the trees, 

 and when nothing else is to be had, they feed on the bark of twigs 

 till cold weather comes on, when they go into winter quarters, 

 hibernating, according to Riley, under all sorts of shelter in the 

 woods, generally near the surface of the ground. In the spring 

 they commence as soon as warm weather fairly sets in, and as 

 soon as the plums are a little grown the females lay their eggs for 

 another generation. 



It is the habit of this beetle, in common with many others, if 

 suddenly jarred to curl up and fall. And from this habit comes a 

 sure remedy. Spread a large sheet of white cloth under the tree, 

 and give it a sudden jar, as striking it upon the end of a limb which 

 has been sawn off; the curculio will fall upon the sheet and may 

 be collected and destroyed. Morning and evening are the best 

 times to jar the trees. An additional recommendation is, to spread 

 small pieces of board under these for the beetles to hide under 

 during the day, and by turning these over they may be found and 

 destroyed. It has occuri'ed to me, that since the larvae has to 



*Prof. C. H. Fernald. 



