34 



the first place 40 per cent were obviously "wormy," and only 60 per 

 cent apparently good. Of the apparently good nuts a number were 

 placed in water and left for several minutes, when two sank after 

 remaining on top, and one which had sunk rose to the surface. 



Results of water test with common small chestnuts. 



Nuts which rose to surface. 



Nuts which remained on bottom. 





Per cent. 

 10 



20 

 10 

 60 





Per cent. 

 40 



Showing minute marks only; good fla- 



Slightly injured 



30 





20 







10 













Noticeably wormy nuts as observed from the outside, and by the 

 loss of weight after the escape of the "worms," naturally all rose 

 when placed in water. 



These experiments show that the obviously injured nuts will rise to 

 the surface as a general rule, but the remainder require some further 

 test than whether they will sink or float. The reader is left to his own 

 conclusions. 



DIRECT REMEDIES. 



Bisulphid of carbon. — The value of bisulphid of carbon as a fumi- 

 gant for nuts infested by weevils is often asked, and it would seem at 

 first thought that its use is hardly desirable, for the reason that the 

 larvae or grubs are frequently so large when the nuts are harvested 

 that purchasers would not be deceived if they took the precaution 

 before bivying of opening a few, so that there is little gain in this 

 direction. The shell of the nut is so firm and compact that it would 

 appear difficult for the bisulphid to penetrate and kill the larvae. 

 Nevertheless, a prominent grower in Pennsylvania informs me that 

 he successfully uses bisulphid of carbon, applying it when the nuts 

 are first harvested. In some cases the dead weevil larvae are so small 

 that the average person would not refuse a nut which shows only 

 slight attack, while if these same larvae were permitted to obtain full 

 growth they would have nearly consumed the nut. He uses the bisul- 

 phid on one of the largest nuts grown in this country from foreign 

 stock, and, since as many as 40 larvae have been found by him in 

 single nuts, one can readily see that prompt fumigation is desirable, 

 at least in his locality. We could not claim the same for all others, 

 because the first nuts that are brought to market in the District of 

 Columbia are more badly infested than those purchased later; and the 

 chinquapins, which are for sale two or three weeks earlier than the 

 chestnuts, were, at least in 1903, very badly infested when marketed, 

 and bisulphid would have had very little beneficial effect on them. It 

 seems probable that this remedy would be more useful in cold locali- 





