The Curculio. 89 



This, however, requires considerable perseverance, and 

 must be continued daily, from the time the curculio first 

 makes its appearance in June, until its disappearance in 

 July ; and it is questionable whether the plums preserved 

 at the end of this season of watchfulnes, will compensate 

 for the time and labor bestowed upon them. I therefore 

 believe we are still without a remedy, and anxiously look 

 forward to the discovery of some easier, and more success- 

 ful mode of preventing the destruction, from year to year, 

 of this valuable fruit. 



My anxiety on this subject has greatly increased since I 

 have become acquainted with a fact observed by others, of 

 which I had ocular demonstration during the last summer, 

 that even the peach is not exempt from the ravages of the 

 same insect, — the fruit of several trees upon my own ground 

 having been rendered worthless by it, if not entirely de- 

 stroyed. 



My object more particularly in addressing you, is to men- 

 tion one or two facts which came under my own observa- 

 tion, and may, perhaps, be of value to those who are in 

 pursuit of the desired remedy. I think they will clearly 

 prove thai, if every curculio upon the tree be destroyed, 

 and all the punctured fruit thrown into the fire, it ivlll not 

 j)7'event the same number of the insect from ajyjyearing the 

 succeeding year. 



The place Avhich I now occupy contains twenty acres, 

 situated within two miles of the city. Two thirds of it 

 was covered with a dense forest, and the remainder in 

 meadow, and was about the centre of a farm of one hun- 

 dred and sixty acres, when 1 purchased it, six years ago. 

 There was, at the time, no plum or peach tree within half 

 a mile of it. Having planted a number of fruit trees near 

 the house, some of the plum, which were of a large size, 

 blossomed, and were covered with fruit in great abundance, 

 for the first time, in the summer of 1842. As they increased 

 in size, I soon discovered that the curculio were busy at 

 work, and in a short time there was not a single one un- 

 touched. Consequently, they all dropped from the tree, 

 but were immediately gathered up, and given to the pigs. 

 Last year the trees having increased in size, and the season 

 being more favorable, a larger crop appeared, which was 

 again attacked by the insect in far greater numbers than 

 the previous year. Although it appeared an almost hope- 



VOL. X. NO, III. 12 



