132 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



It can fly and does fly, especially during the 

 heat of the day ; so cotton baudages around the 

 trunk, and all like contrivances, are worse than 



It prefers smooth-skinned to rough-skinned 

 stone-fruit. 



The Miner plum, otherwise known as the 

 Hinckley plum, Isabel plum, Gilett plum, 

 Townseiid plum, Robinson phim ; and other 

 varieties of that wild species known as the 

 Chickasaw plum {Prunus chicasa), are less 

 liable to its attacks than other kinds. 



Both the male and female puncture the fruit 

 for food, by gouging hemispherical holes ; but 

 the female alone makes the crescent-mark above 

 described. 



Scarcely any eggs are deposited after the pit 

 of the fruit ha,s become hard. 



The cherry when infested remains on the tree, 

 and the preventive measures that may be ap- 

 plied to other fruits will consequently not hold 

 good with this. 



The larva cannot well undergo its transforma- 

 tions in earth which is dry or baked, and severe 

 drouths are consequently prejudicial to its 

 increase. 



It often matures in apples and pears, especially 

 in early varieties, but in tlie great majority of 

 instances the egg either fails to Ijatch or the 

 yonng larva perishes in a few days after hatching. 



Many other facts might be cited, but in tiie 

 foregoing remarks I have confined myself to 

 that which I know, from ample personal experi- 

 ence, to be the truth and nothing but the truth. 



Artificial Remedies. 

 Now, gentlemen, it must be clear to you that, 

 as practical men, this is all you need to know to 

 enable you to fight and conquer this evil. Those 

 mooted points which we shall presently consider 

 are of great interest to the naturalist and to the 

 scientific man, and although I do not quite 

 agree with Dr. Trimble, that the hybernation 

 of the Curcnlio, for instance, is practically of no 

 consequence, yet the settlement of these ques- 

 tions is not necessary to the carrying on of a 

 successful warfare. We need not necessarily 

 understand the morphology of a plant in order 

 to make it grow; neither is it always necessary 

 to penetrate into all the details of an insect's 

 history in order to circumvent its injuries. You 

 can fight Curcnlio without being a thorough 

 Entomologist. The remedies are few. They 

 consist of prevention, by destroying the fallen 

 fruit which contains the grub, and by jarring 

 down and catching and killing the beetles. 

 There are a variety of means which can be em- 



ployed for destroying the grubs which fall with 

 the fruit before they enter the ground. It can 

 be done either by hand or by stock. Hogs and 

 poultry are of undoubted use for this purpose. 

 In the article entitled " Hogs vs. Bugs," in the 

 first number of the Ameuican Entomologist, 

 abundant proof in support of this fact may be 

 found, and I have, since that was published, 

 obtained much additional proof of a similar 

 nature, and am convinced that our friend Dr. 

 Hull underestimates the value of these auxili- 

 aries. Of course, the first year they are used 

 theydo not in tlie least decrease the number of 

 beetles, but wherever they can be used, a mo:t 

 beneficial eflect will be noticed the second year, 

 and every year afterwards. As stated in the 

 article referred to, the practical difliculties in 

 the way of carrying out the system of subduing 

 fruit-boring insects by hog-power are: 1st, The 

 necessity of liaving all the orchard land under 

 a separate fence, which of course in many cases 

 involves a considerable extra outlay for fencing 

 materials. 2d, The necessity of giving up a 

 practice, which is conceded by the most intelli- 

 gent fruit-growers to be otherwise objectionable, 

 namely, growing other crops, such as small 

 grain, corn, or small fruits, between the rows of 

 trees in bearing fruit orchards. 3rd, The ne- 

 cessity of giving up the fashionable theory of 

 low-lieaded trees; for otlierwise, if apple and 

 peach trees are allowed to branch out like a 

 cun-ant bush from the very root, any hogs 

 which range among them will manifestly be 

 able to help themselves, not only to the wormy 

 windfalls that lie on the ground, but also to the 

 sound growing fruit upon all the lowermost 

 boughs. 



Tlie jarring process may be carried on in vari- 

 ous ways, accordant with the extent of the 

 orchard or the character of the trees to be jarred 

 — always bearing in mind that a sudden jar, 

 rather than a severe shake or knock, is neces- 

 sary. There is no more thorougli and exj)e- 

 ditious way, liowever, than by means of Dr. 

 Hull's Curculio-catcher. Every member of this 

 Society is probably familiar with the appearance 

 of this machine ; but, believing that a descrip- 

 tion of it has never been published in your 

 Transactions, I will give one in the Doctor's 

 own words. 



[A full and illustrated description of this 

 machine will be found on page 220 of our first 

 volume.] 



I have noticed that where this Curculio-catcher 

 has been constantly used the trees have suffered 

 serious injury from bruising, and would suggest 

 that, by driving a spike (one with a shoulder to 



