540 I Assembly 



carried to the nearest cities and towns, being in much demand 

 and considered very wholesome. The apricot is a hybrid form- 

 ed by nature as many plants are, growing wild and close together, 

 partaking of the quantities of two or more. The apricot was 

 formed no doubt by tlie union of the peach and plum, partaking 

 much more largely of the qualities of the latter than the former; 

 this frequently happens with hybrid plants. The apricot resem- 

 bles the plum in many more points than the peach; it is smooth 

 skinned, the pit is precisely like the plum. In flavor and color, 

 there is a slight resemblance to the peach, considerably more 

 though in flavor to the plum. The nectarine, it is thought, was 

 produced by the same union ; this partakes much more of the 

 peach than the plum, its principal point of resemblance to the 

 latter is its smooth skin. The great difiiculty of raising these 

 fruits of late years, in numbers and perfection, have been the in- 

 sects. These from the smooth thin skin of the first, easily punc- 

 ture it, enter the exterior and destroy it. It drops off" premature- 

 ly, and th(jse that remain on till ripe are inferior in quality. 

 The curculio is the name of the insect with us, that commits the 

 greatest ravages on plums and other smooth skined fruit ; it is of 

 the beetle tribe; it is called in Europe and by some here the 

 wevil. Dr. Harris, an American Entomologist, Dr. James Til- 

 ton, of Wilmingtuu, Delaware, Rev. F. S. Melshiemer, Professors 

 Peck, Say and others, describe this insect minutely, they having 

 seen and examined it, in various stages of its growth. Dr. Har- 

 ris states that he has i'unnd the beetle in Massachusetts, has fre- 

 quently caught them flying in the middle of the d^y, and seen 

 them puncturing the fruit. They are from ^^^ to i of an inch 

 long, exclusive of the curved snout, kc. Prof. Mapes does not 

 believe a woid of the hen and chickens, confined under a plum 

 tree destr.»\ing the curculio that were found upon the ground un- 

 der it, and were making for the tree and so eilectually, that the 

 tree that season bore a tine crop of plums, which it had not done 

 before in several years, and it bore them for some years after. 

 The professor thought that few ever saw a curculio or plum we- 

 vil, they are so small they only imagined they did. If he will 

 take the trouble to examine the works of the authors here quoted, 

 he will probably be convinced that there are persons sharp sight- 



