II 



having destroyed the leaves upon two trees. He procured some 

 whale oil soap, diluted it wltii water, and with a garden engine 

 thoroughly drenched the remainder of his trees, and they were 

 entirely preserved from the ravages of the worms. J. 



[ Letter from Dr. Thaddeus William Harris. ] 



Cambridge, Mass , July 23, 1853. 

 Hon. B. P. Johnson : Dear Sir — I have read, with some inter- 

 est, your communication, on some insects that are injurious to the 

 buds and young twigs of the apple tree in Michigan, contained in 

 the Journal of the New- York State Agricultural Society, for July, 

 and also the reply of Dr. Fitch, and his account of other destruc- 

 tive insects, printed in the Salem Press, of tlie 12th instant. 



On the 22d of June, P. Barry, Esq., the editor of " the Horti- 

 culturist," sent to me a beetle and an apple tree twig, with the 

 following remarks : "A gentleman in Wisconsin encloses me the 

 weevil and piece of apple tree which accompany this. He says 

 they are very destructive to his apple and pear trees, and occa- 

 sionally to his plum and cherry trees. They attack the branch, 

 generally, at the base of a young shoot, and eat it to the pith. 

 He thinks it must operate in the night, as he can not find it in 

 the day. Have you seeu it in Massachusetts?" 



This large weevil is the Ithycerus Jfovehoracensis ot my cata- 

 logue of the insects of Massaciuisetts, printed in 1835, or the 

 Curculio JVoveboracemis of Forster's Centuria, printed in 1771 . It 

 is, undoubtedly, the same species that is referred to in your com- 

 munication, and in Dr. Fitch's reply. Though not a very abun- 

 dant species here, it is by no means rare, and it seems to have a 

 wide range through the country, being found in most of the New- 

 England States, inthe Middle and in the Western States, in Cana- 

 da and in Newfoundland. I have taken it in Massachusetts, on 

 forest trees, particularly oaks, in June and July ; but never met 

 with it on fruit trees. Nothing is known to me of the habits of 

 the insect in its early stages. 



John Reinhold Forster, the first describer of this fine species, 

 found it, as we learn from his " Catalogue," in " a most select and 



