THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



161 



CURCULIO REMEDIES. 



(I dclbllsiv.". h: 



Fii-st ill till' ollV'u-ivc (leiiartuu'iit. 1 will givo 

 the Xeic York O/t.scrrcr'.s great cuR-ulio remedy. 



To one pound of whale oil soap add tour oun- 

 ces of sulphur; mix thoroughly and dissolve in 

 twelve gallons of water. Take half a peck of 

 (|uiek lime, and. when well slacked, add four 

 gallons of water and stir well together. "When 

 well settled and clear, pour off the transparent 

 liiiuid and add it to the soap and water mix- 

 iiiiT. To this mixture add four gallons of 

 strong tobacco water. Apply this compouud, 

 when thus incorporated, with a garden syringe 

 to your plum or other fruit trees, so as to drench 

 all parts of the foliage. If no rain succeeds lor 

 three weeks, one application will be sufficient. 

 If washed by rains it should be renewed. 



The receipt was effectual in raising, not plums, 

 but the price of whale oil soap from one dollar 

 and fifty cents i)er hundred pounds one year, to 

 six dollars the next. [Laughter]. "\Ve tried it 

 faithfully upon u portion of our orchard, and 

 linding thecurciilic) had misunderstood the ob- 

 ject of the syringing [laugliter], or was obsti- 

 nate and wouldn't take the hint, we fitted up a 

 curculio-catclicr, similar to Dr. Hull's, and iu- 

 vai-iably caught as many curculios from the trees 

 tliat were syringed as from those that were not. 



< Jas tar has been recommended, but it is utter- 

 ly worthless for this purpose. Indeed, a gentle- 

 man informed me that he had tried the strongest 

 smelling substance to be obtained at the gas- 

 works — so strong that his neighbors complained 

 of it as a nui?ance — but without any effect. 



Coal oil is also recommended, but as it will not 

 drive off lice from cattle, it is doubtful whether 

 it will drive the curculio from the plum trees. 



[Mr. P. L. Cable — one of the wealthiest and 

 most intelligent citizens of Kock Island, Ills. — 

 informed us in the spring of 1807 that, having 

 always hitherto had his plums destroyed by Cur- 

 culio, he was now going to try an effectual rem- 

 edy, "lie intended," he said, "to have a num- 

 ber of large swabs, Jborougbly saturated with 

 coal-oil, bung up among the branches of his plum- 

 trees.'' We told him that he miglit just as well 

 hang them up in his stable, for any good that they 

 were likely to do: and that he had better have 

 his plum-trees regularly jarred, after the approv- 

 ed old fashion. But no. He had seen the coal- 

 oil remedy highly recommended, and he was 

 going to trv it. ISesides, biior-men of course 



know nothing abont bugs. Sliortly afterwards, 

 ou passing by his grounds, we noticed a plum- 

 tree garnished with a great variety of old rags, 

 and a very loud smell of coal-oil saluted oiir 

 nostrils. In the following autumn, we asked Mr. 

 Cable how many bushels of plums he had raised. 

 "Ah," he replied, ''the Ct'.rculio took every plum 

 for me, audi am not going to try the (iieat 

 Coal Oil Specific any more." — Eds.] 



Among the defensive remedies cotton batting 

 tied around the trunk of the tree has been recom- 

 mended; in entire ignorance of the fiict that the 

 curculio has wings and flies readily. 



Common salt has been suggested. After 

 smoothing the ground and packing hard, the 

 salt is to be spread a quarter of an inch thick as 

 far as the branches extend. I have seen no re- 

 port from any one who has tried it, but would 

 suppose, from the fact that the curculio will fly 

 lurif a mile or more, that the remedy would have 

 to be extensively applied to be anything more 

 than partially successful. 



Hogs running in an orchard while the plums 

 are falling is, from the fact above mentioned, 

 also only a partial remedy. 



But after all that has been said, the only reli- 

 able plan of fighting the " little Turk " is the 

 jarring plan. Knock the rascals down on a 

 sheet spread under the tree, and pinch their 

 heads oft". Dr. Hull's curculio-catcher is an ad- 

 mirable contrivance for doing this splendidly 

 and effectually. It has been suggested that, if 

 the " umbrella plan " was carried out more 

 closely, it might be an advantage. A jointed 

 handle, a handle that could be inserted so as to 

 fold up tlie sheet from the barrow, would make 

 it more convenient for passing through gates, 

 and also storing away when not needed. In 

 conclusion, I would say, whoever would be a 

 successful plum grower must exercise the perse- 

 vering unconditional-surrender spirit of our 

 President elect, and fight it out on this line (the 

 jarring and sheet process) if it takes all summer. 



HOW GRE.VT WITS JUMP TOGETHER. 



A correspondent says that, after twenty years' experi- 

 ence, he has found tliat the most effectual remedy for the 

 borer is stopping up the holes with liard soap'.— Aijri- 

 c'lliural Papei'. 



A correspondent of the Police Gazette says that, 

 having had fifty years' experience among horse 

 thieves, he has at length discovered, after a num- 

 ber of laborious and very troublesome experi- 

 ments, that the only eftectual mode to prevent 

 your horses from being stolen is, to put one of 

 Chubb's Patent Burglar-proof Padlocks upon 

 the stable door, after the horses have been stolen 

 ahcadv. 



