CROPS AND PROFITS. 185 



is trifling, in comparison with the mischiefs of the 

 arch-enemy, the curculio. The few trees which I 

 found suffering under black-knot in its most aggra- 

 vated form, I am sorry to say, died under surgical 

 treatment. Others have been planted to supply their 

 places ; planted in the poultry yard planted in 

 positions where the earth would be hard trampled, 

 planted in shelter and out of shelter ; but although 

 showing fair vigor, and a pretty array of blossoms, 

 no device thus far adopted has succeeded in arresting 

 the spoliations of the curculio. Paving the ground is 

 vain ; the forage of poultry is vain ; underlying 

 water is vain ; and there remain only three re- 

 sources to jar off the vermin, gather them and kill 

 them ; or second, to deluge the young frait with a 

 wash that shall nauseate the enemy; or third, to 

 shield the trees or fruit with a gauze covering, that 

 shall forbid attack. They are good devices against 

 any enemy ; but extermination is a slow process ; if 

 you nauseate the enemy, you are nauseated in turn ; 

 and the gauze protection involves a greater sacrifice 

 than the sacrifice of the fruit. 



These reasons, though counting against the plum 

 as a market product, do not, of course, forbid its 

 growth as a luxury, which, like many other luxuries, 

 must be paid for in fourfold its value. 



I would by no means undervalue the plum ; least 



