24 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



gone, tliey feed on the leaves of the trees, and when nothing else 

 is to be had they feed on the bark of twigs till cold weatlier 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 active opera- 

 tions 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 recommended to 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 curculios 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 boards about under 

 the trees for the beetles to hide under during the day, and by turn- 

 ing these over they may be found and destroyed. It has occurred 

 to me, that since the larva has to work its way into the ground 

 to undergo its transformations, where the ground is clear it might 

 be rolled and otherwise compacted so that the curculio could not 

 readily work itself down, and thus it might perish upon the ground 

 from exposure to the sun. 



There is another insect which is doing a great deal of damage 

 in some parts of our State, if not all over it, and yet I have so far 

 heard no complaint about it, so that I have been led to suspect 

 that many mistake it for the common or the forest tent caterpillar. 

 The insect to which I refer is the fall web-worm ( JlyphanLria textor, 

 Harris). This is a small white moth which lays her eggs upon a 

 leaf T)ear the end of a branch, during the last of July. The eggs 

 hatch out, and the young enclose the entire end of the branch in 

 their web, and feed only upon the pulpy part of the leaf, or the 

 parenchyma, under the tent, extending the tent or web to enclose 

 more leaves as they need them to feed upon. After the larvae are 

 fully grown they descend from the trees, work themselves down 

 into the ground, where they go into the pupa state and pass the 

 winter. This insect does not seem to be at all particular about its 

 diet, for you may find the webs on almost every kind of a decidu- 

 ous tree, so that forest and fruit trees alike suffer from its depre- 

 dations. The fall web-worm is readily destroyed by cutting off 

 the branch upon which the web is situated and burning it, or 

 treading it unden foot so as to crush all the worms. If, however, 

 they are upon the limb of a tree which you do not wish to prune 

 80 much, they may be crushed in the web after the manner of the 



