1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



347 



and under the bark of an apple tree; {Frutf In- 

 sects, p. 99;) and since then I have been informed 

 by Mr. Rathvon, that he has himself found speci- 

 mens hybcrnating under the bark of the clierry 

 and the wild c herry in the months of March and 

 November. Dr. Harris has also recorded the fact, 

 that he has "found these beetles as early as the 

 30th of March," {InJ. Ins. p. 75,) apparently in the 

 latitude of Massachusetts — a fact which is quite 

 irreconcilable with the hypothesis of their having 

 come out from the pupa state at so early a date 

 in so cold a climate, and evidently implies that 

 they must have passed the winter in the perfect 

 state, and been tempted, as often happens in such 

 cases, by some peculiarly tine and warm day, to 

 come forth temporarily from their winter quiirters 

 into the open air. The truth of the matter is, that 

 most authors have been disponed to underrate the 

 duration of insect life during the perfect or winged 

 state, putting the average period at a few days or 

 weeks, when perhaps a few months would be near- 

 er the mark. There is little doubt now, in my 

 mind, that the "Curculios" bred from the fruit of 

 one year are the same individuals that puncture 

 the fruit of the following year." 



Of the Plum-gouger he says : 



Occasionally, at all events, and probably as a 

 general rule, the larva of this snout-beetle, instead 

 of going underground to transform into the pupa 

 state, as that of the common "Curculio" almost 

 always docs, transfonns inside the stone of the 

 fruit which it inhabits, the perfect beetle emerging 

 as usual, through a round hole which the larva 

 had previously cut for that express purpose. 



His knowledge, or rather his want of knowl- 

 edge, of the history of the Four-humped Cur- 

 culio, is stated with that frankness and mod- 

 esty which ever characterize the truly scientific 

 investigator : 



I have never traced this insect through its trans- 

 formations, and do not know how long the larva 

 remains in the infested fruit — whetner it retires 

 underground to transform or transforms wiihiu 

 the apple — or whether the perfect beetle makes its 

 appearance the same season or in the following 

 spring. Neither do I know whether apples con- 

 taining these larva; fall prematurely from the tree. 

 Mr. Cutter observes, that he found it impossible to 

 jar thete snout-beetles ofi'thc tree on to ihe sheets. 

 I have always myself succeeded in dislodging any 

 number of them from crab and thorn trees, by 

 beating the boughs into an inverted umbrella. 

 But no doubt, as it belongs to the same genus, and 

 has the same structural peculiarities as the Plum- 

 gouger, it will require equally severe jarring to 

 bring it to the ground. Whether it can be effectu- 

 ally counterworked in any other manner, can only 

 be told atter we become more fully acquainted 

 with its habits. 



He then adds : 



There are several other snout-beetles which in- 

 fest fruit trees, either cultivated or wild ; but their 

 history and habits yet remain to be fully investi- 

 gated, and I hope to be able to devote some con- 

 siderable attention to this subject during the com- 

 ing season. 



We cannot close this article without remark- 

 ing that this one paper on the curculio is richly 

 worth the price of a year's subscription to the 

 Practical Entomologist, published at Philadel- 

 phia, at 50c per year, nor without expressing 



the hope that the natural history of this insect 

 will soon be, if it is not now, "as well known 

 as that of the cow." 



Although some four columns of this article 

 are devoted to a consideration of the means 

 of destroying the curculio, we find nothing 

 new in the suggestions of Dr. Walsh. Gath- 

 ering up and destroying the fruit by children 

 or pigs ; jarring the insects upon sheets ; and 

 dusting the tree thoroughly with air-slaked 

 lime, are the only remedies which are not pro- 

 nounced "moonshine." He does, however, 

 recommend an improved sheet apparatus, con- 

 sisting of a light frame, on a wheel, or a sort 

 of extended wheel barrow, of some 11 feet 

 wide by 13 long, covered with cloth, with an 

 opening to admit the trunk of the tree to near 

 the centre of the platform, where a suitable 

 bunter is placed, by which the tree is jarred. 

 As the insects fall they roll into depressed 

 places in the sheet, and from thence into pock- 

 ets or sacks, from which they may be taken 

 and destroyed' 



HIS CO-W^S Ali-WAYS DO WELL. 

 In a letter to the New York Farmers' Club, 

 Mr. J. L. Humphrey of New Bedford, gives 

 the following account of the management by 

 which his cows are exempt from caked bag, 

 and other diseases which afflict many dairies : — 



I never have any trouble in that direction, 

 no matter how fat the cow may be at the time 

 of calving. I keep the best cows that 1 can 

 get, and find it the most profitable for my pur- 

 pose to have them calve only once in eighteen 

 months. I feed moderately on grain — gener- 

 ally oats and corn mixed, with the addition of 

 roots during the winter — so that my cows, 

 though they may milk down thin during the 

 first six or eight months, will always come up 

 again in flesh before I dry them off. I never 

 let them go dry less than ttoo months ; three is 

 better if it occurs in summer, and I always 

 take away the grain as soon as they are dry, 

 and sometimes before, if too much inclined to 

 milk. P"or two or three weeks before calving 

 1 keep them on a spare but laxative diet — if in 

 winter early cut hay or corn fodder and hay 

 with a few roots but no straw. After calving 

 give one pound of Epsom salts, and a few hours 

 after a warm brari mash — scalding the bran 

 with boiling water — commencing to feed a 

 little hay in twelve hours from calving, and 

 gradually increasing to full feed after two or 

 three days. Since I have adopted this course 

 I have had no trouble with the bag but what 

 would readily jield to a few applications of 

 hot water followed hy dry rubbing. 



