170 



THE AMERICAN 



ill, and thus be entrapped; or scrape the body 

 of their trees, dislodging and destroying all 

 insect life there concealed? All these are well 

 known, simple and efficacious remedies, at least 

 to the extent of securing a good crop under 

 ordinary circumstances. I suppose there is 

 not a single person in our community who 

 practices all or even one of these simple reme- 

 dies thoroughly. I know of none such, but I 

 know of numbers who are ready to assert upon 

 all occasions that fruit here is a failure. They 

 seem to ignore the fact that the presence of these 

 pests in such profusion only gives the lie to 

 their assertion. Insects and fruit go together; 

 they are one and inseparable. * * * * 



I would, therefore, earuestl)^ recommend to 

 every member of this Association, and to every 

 fruit-grower, that we combinedly operate to- 

 gether in making war upon them, using all the 

 knowledge and means in our possession to keep 

 them in subjection. The bodies of our apple 

 trees should be carefully scraped, and the larva3 

 of the Codling-moth hunted out and destroyed. 

 The fruit room, and all apple barrels and bins 

 should undergo a similar process, before the 

 moths make their appearance in the spring. 

 The latter hiding places are thought by manj'' 

 to be the most prolific source of our annual 

 supply of this insect, and should by no means 

 be overlooked. 



The Curculio should come in for a large share 

 of our attention. We should be prepared to 

 run the Curculio-catcher with a vengeance, and 

 take advantage of the information conveyed to 

 ns by our State Horticulturist (Dr. Hull), that 

 the Little Turks gather upon the trees ten or 

 twelve days in advance of their depositing any 

 eggs in the fruit, for the purpose of pairing oflT, 

 and that if caught during this period, wo not 

 only get rid ot the feupply on hand, but of the 

 generation which follows, which would not be 

 the case if not caught until later in the season. 



I would also recommend the appointment of 

 an active committee, whose duty it shall be to 

 visit all the orchards possible in our vicinity 

 monthly, to note the management of each, and 

 convey to this society the results of their obsei-- 

 vations. Much useful information might thus 

 be obtained by the committee, and through 

 them be conveyed to (he Society for the general 



good. * * =. » :i * * * 



You will perceive, gentlemen, that not much 

 of the fanciful has occupied our thought in what 

 has been said. We propose to leave this to 

 those who choose not to dabble in the more 

 practical part of our profession. Indeed, our 

 mind has been so often toasted and feasted with 



the beautiful imagery in connection with our 

 subject, that wheu called upon to face some of 

 the unpleasant practical realities, we have felt 

 as if an emetic had been administered and that 

 we were prepared to disgorge at once and lor- 

 ever all that is not real. We must acknowledge, 

 however, that we do sometimes find ourselves 

 indulging in this weakness of feeding our fancy. 

 Nothing occurs to us at this moment as being 

 more likely to ensnare and captivate the senses 

 than in contemplating some of the pleasures to 

 be derived from a pursuit so God-given, trans- 

 porting us into the very garden of our first 

 parents. Like them we find there is the bitter 

 with the sweet — the forbidden fruit — for we 

 pluck the king of fruits — the Apple— and what 

 do we find but the larvx of the Codling-moth? 

 which has anticipated us and sipped, as it were, 

 the very nectar from our lips. We turn from 

 it in disgust to the queen of fruits — the Peach, 

 and again what do we find? Wh)^, gentlemen, 

 the wriggling, loathsome progeny of the ever- 

 lasting "nigger in the wood pile" — the Little 

 Turk, and thus we are driven from the garden 

 into the cold world to fight single-handed with 

 our adversary, and when there, we are forced 

 to exclaim, " that all is not gold that glitters." 



THE WORM EXTERMINATOR, 



The Entomologist is giving the venders of 

 patent insect exterminators some home-thrusts, 

 in the way of showing up the imposition prac- 

 ticed. It is passing strange that peoiDle will 

 submit to be humbugged by strangers of whom 

 they know nothing. But it is true that people 

 Avill patronize every itinerant vender of nos- 

 trums who may perambulate through the rural 

 districts of any State in the Union. We have 

 before us a number of circulars received from 

 parties who offer a fruit-tree invigorator and 

 insect-destroyer, price five dollars for the right 

 to use said nostrum. 



This circular claims that scientific and prac- 

 tical cultivators have used and endorse the said 

 invigorator, all of which we believe to be un- 

 true. 



We happen to know that several eminent 

 florists and fruit-growers live in the immediate 

 neighborhood of the man who offers this hum- 

 bug mixture, but their names do not appear in 

 the circular — and why not? Simply because 

 these men are experienced horticulturists, and 

 cannot be caught with such chafl'. 



Our advice is, never patronize a stranger 

 unless you know the value of the article offered 

 for sale. — Hearth and Home. 



