390 
1 ^" I - - 
lows an insect instinct that leads to the selection of the 
very tenderest and best varieties of plums. They are not 
so foolish as to select trees on which to deposit their larvae 
or chrysalis, which, in the course of events, must"lead to 
its destruction. .The .exeat law' of instinct here seen gives 
direction to their habits. Hence our knowled.ee of the 
kind of v r aifare we are to adopt. In Trumbull county, 
Ohio, in 1835, this pest was found in mjxiads, and it came 
literally “out of the woods.” It breeds in our forests and 
woody places, and an hour with my microscope has shown 
me hundreds of these insects, not only upon twigs and trees 
in the woods, but also upon some of our succulent plants. 
I have quite a number of well attested facts, derived from 
unquestioned sources, showing that the remedies to be 
relied upon are what I place among the natural remedies. 
A gentleman from Pennsylvania says, some years later: “I 
believe in your natural remedies for the extermination of 
curculio. Of all my trees, none have given me any fruit 
except one growing beside the fence of my pig yard, which 
has the benefit of its pungent manure. It ripened two 
bushels of fine fruit. I have one hundred trees of apricots 
and plums, and all told from them I have not obtained two 
bushels of fruit.” I received some three years after this a 
letter from the above writer, in which he says : “Thinking 
the swine manure drove away the curculio, I removed ail 
my small trees, and made an enclosure for them near to my 
hog pen, and gave the hogs access to them at certain sea¬ 
sons, with the grandest results. Full crops of fine fruit, 
and the pigs are my best protectors.” 
Once the curculio was considered an enemy of such 
power that many skilled agriculturists gave over the 
thought of ever subjugating him. One intelligent gentle¬ 
man from Ohio writes me : “I have about given up my 
plum trees to the devourer, the curculio.” Others had not 
force or energy sufficient to look the enemy in the face. 
In 1848 a gentleman in Pennsylvania wrote as follows: “ I 
have tried your remedy, and a good one, by the way; I tied 
large open-mouthed bottles, partly filled with molasses and 
water, to my plum trees, also bags containing a half pint 
of salt to the limbs, and applied one peck of manure from 
the hog yard, mixed with one pint of salt, to the roots of 
the trees. I had a good crop of plums this year under this 
treatment. Last year I had not one peck of fruit. On 
examining the bottle every day, I had from one pint to two 
quarts of all kinds of bugs and insects, wasps, &c., safely 
bottled up.” I use upon my own trees, and have for years, 
as a manure for small-sized trees, say one peck of manure 
from the hog pen to one pint of salt and one pint of 
sulphur, mixed together, with occasional applications of 
powdered gypsum and sulphur direct to the trees when in 
blossom, after a rain. I have always had good crops. 
The curculio generally commences its operations directly 
after the falling of the blossom, and until the fruit is as 
large as a hazel-nut it is not safe, but must be carefully 
examined. During the many years of my investigation 
of the habits of this insect, I am quite sure that of the 
many remedies that have been applied for the preservation 
of the fruit against its depredations, of the natural remedies 
the farmer will find the hog manure and salt, the coarse 
wet horse manure, and in this connection the use of open- 
mouthed bottles, filled with either honey-water or molasses 
and water, the best applications. I have used them suc¬ 
cessfully, and I have full faith in their efficacy if rightly 
applied. The ground should be often stirred around the 
roots of the trees, and all droppings of fruit removed at 
once. 
Much reliance was placed in the use of gypsum and 
sulphur as protection to plums from the curculio. In 1851 
I made use of this remedy: gypsum four parts to one of 
Hour sulphur, and after a rain applied in dry powdered 
form to my trees. The result was a good crop of plums. 
I repeated this for four years with the same good effects. 
Other persons in my own vicinity had the like good suc¬ 
cess attending careful applications of the same, with careful 
attention to their trees. This is. to be applied when the 
trees are in blossom only. 
The worst time for the plum tree, or its time of peril, is 
when the curculio insect begins its deposit of ova, generally 
at the time when the fruit is about, the size of a pea. This 
insect both ascends the tree and flies from tree to tree, over 
high fences, and seemingly under the most adverse circum¬ 
stances. I have seen them many times at work, making 
their punctures or incisions in the plum, and depositing 
generally only a single egg. Here the work has com¬ 
menced. In time these eggs become larvae, or grubs, that 
feed upon the pulp of the plum, and the result is, the fruit 
soon falls to the ground before it is ripe. After this larvae 
or grub has attained full size, it leaves the plum and bur¬ 
rows into the earth beneath the tree, and here it tarries 
about twenty to twenty-two days, and when next he intro¬ 
duces himself to you he is a full fledged, perfect insect, 
ready to go on with the war, and lively as a cricket. These 
new rascals ascend or fly into the tree, and go through with 
precisely the same routine of operations that I have just 
described. 
Such is the curculio, and such are some of the numerous 
and interesting facts connected with its existence. t I 
am in possession of many other facts and microscopic dis¬ 
coveries relating to this insect, and the modes of protecting 
our trees from its ravages. I have given one sure natural 
remedy, a clieck-rein upon its devastations. I will give one 
other of an entirely different character, easily tried by any 
one and by myself also attended with good results. It is 
simplv to soak corn-cobs in warm molasses and water until 
thev become quite soft, or thoroughly saturated; then, 
with apiece of twine, suspend them upon the branches of 
the trees, twenty or thirty to a moderate-sized tree, shortly 
after the blossom appears; change the cobs every two 
weeks. The insect will deposit its eggs m the cobs in 
preference to the tree or fruit. I tried this veiy simple 
remedy, with variations and improvements of my own, and 
have much faith in its efficacy to preserve our plums. Be 
careful to burn your cobs on removing from your trees. 
They will be found filled with eggs and insects. 
Ollipod Quill. 
-- - -— 
Lawrence, Kan., July 20th, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream:— 
I frequently get poisoned with ivy, though I always avoid contact with 
the stulf. A few days since, being in the woods, a party brought me a 
handful of the leaves to know what they were, and of coarse I was poi¬ 
soned at once, while the person having them in hand suffered no incon¬ 
venience. Being advised to try a bath of buttermilk, I did so, and was 
relieved in a day or two. On going to bed I dipped a towel into fresh 
buttermilk, bound it about my face, which was quite well in four days, 
while spots of poison on my arm winch were not treated in the same 
way were a week healing. I notice that only light-complcxiorXtl persons 
seem to he susceptible to the poison. b. 
FORESIVANl) STREAM. 
—Last week the steamer City of Richmond brought two 
black and white setters from England for a gentleman in 
Pittsburgh, Penn. His name we could not ascertain, nor 
the party from whence they came, as the tag with the 
name appended had got detached, and no one on the vessel 
seemed to know anything about them further than that 
they were for a gentleman in Pittsburgh. 
—We may look forward to some very fine progeny by 
“Mohawk’s” Macdona’s “Milo” out of Dr. Gautier’s Lav- 
erack “Ruby.” 
— A correspondent, W. II. W., of Philadelphia, writes 
to us as follows:— 
“I have seen once or twice in your paper an article re- 
fering to biscuit for feeding dogs on bunting trips. The 
idea strikes me that it would meet a difficulty often experi¬ 
enced by sportsmen, at least one that I have often felt in 
finding proper and nourishing food for my dogs while in 
the woods. Please inform me whether the article is manu¬ 
factured in this country? If not I believe it could be made 
profitable, and may possibly start a person at it. Will you 
be kind enough to furnish me a receipe for making the 
article.” 
We answer that a gentleman of this city lias the matter 
in hand, and has procured the bona-fide receipt from Eng¬ 
land. The duties, charges, &c. on the importation of the 
biscuit you speak of would add so materially to the price as 
to render the article almost unsaleable. 
-- 
NOT HYDROPHOBIA. 
Shelbyville, Tenn., July 21, 1874. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
A little incident occurred this morning at my bouse, that 
caused me to bless the day I first began taking Forest and 
Stream. The hydrophobia that has been raging in New 
York, of course has excited a great deal of interest in the 
minds of the lovers of the dog. I have two very fine dogs, 
a setter and a pointer, so to save myself (and them if possi¬ 
ble) in case the hydrophobia got clown this far, I have been 
carefully reading all articles that you have published con- 
cerning the disease. But now to the “shear.” When I 
came up to breakfast this morning I was very much sur¬ 
prised to see all the doors and windows down stairs closed. 
I entered the dining room, and the first words I heard were 
these from the ladies: “Oh! we are so glad you’ve come. 
We are frightened nearly to death. “Czar” has gone mad, 
and we don’t know what to do.” “Where is he?” I asked. 
They told me that he was lying down by the north side of 
the house, foaming and whining, and that he would pay 
no attention when lie was called. Of course I went imme¬ 
diately to the place, for I was certain it could not be hydro¬ 
phobia. I had been carefully watching my dogs for some 
weeks past, and they had shown none of the symptoms so 
plainly described in Forest and Stream. I found my 
pointer lying by the wall foaming at the mouth, as they 
had said, and seeming in great agony. “Czar,” old fellow,” 
I said, and he wagged his tail feebly. This was a good 
sign, and I went up to him to make a closer examination. 
For all the world he looked like a dog that was either mad 
or had been poisoned. I stooped down, and making him 
open his mouth by pressing his cheeks against his molars, 
I looked down his throat. The cause of his strange be¬ 
havior was in full sight, for the poor fellow had gotten a 
stick crossways in the roof of his mouth, too far down for 
him to get at it with liis paws, and so firmly fixed that lie 
could not eject it with his tongue. I inserted my hand 
and had it out in a moment, to the great delight of “Czar,” 
who danced around me for some minutes in the exuberance 
of his joy. I do not wonder that he suffered, for the stick 
was a piece of rose bush, with a large thorn sticking down, 
so that every time he moved in the act of breathing, the 
flesh came in contact with the thorn, and of course caused 
great pain. As it is, his tongue is pretty badly scratched 
up. 
I write this to show you that your paper lias done some 
good, for if I had not read your articles, I would have 
thought sure that my pointer was mad, and—my Webley 
Central Fire would have done the rest. And now, Mr. 
Editor permit me to thank you in the name of him whose 
life was saved through your instrumentality, for the infor¬ 
mation that enabled me to defeat the intentions of “pallida 
mors.” By the bye, yourlast number enabled me to find 
out something that I have been trying to do ever since I 
began taking the paper, viz., who “Piseco” is. In an edi¬ 
torial you mentioned that the Captain of the “Blue light,” 
and “Piseco” were one and the same person. When 1 saw 
this I seized my “Harper” for July, and in the article en¬ 
titled “The Net Result,” I found the real name of the gal¬ 
lant officer, “who,” as Mr. Wyckoff says, “is the right man 
in the right place. ” Bedford. 
-- 
—One entire family of seven persons were bitten by a 
mad dog at Newburgh last week; 
TOBY AND CARLO. 
Editor Forest and Stream: — 
Almost every field sportsman has a way of Ins own in training his dog, 
and so long as it accomplishes the end desired without injuring the nat¬ 
ural good qualities of the animal, all is well. 
“Veritas,” in Forest and Stream, gave us a practical paper upon 
training the dog over different kinds of field game. In the main I agree 
with him, and endorse his method as one deserving the consideration of 
every sportsman. I have, in days long ago, been deemed a tolerable 
good shot, and could generally fill my bag at Scituate, Falmouth, or in 
the Valley of the Merrimack, with either woodcock or quail. I gener¬ 
ally have found that a dog educated to point well on woodcock would 
prove, if carefully trained, a reliable animal on quail and most other 
game. 
One fact noticed by “Veritas' 1 has been confirmed by my own experience 
with fovr different dogs, viz: that the dog, particularly if quite a young 
one, will always go for that kind of game which he had first killed over 
him'. It is an established rule to train a dog in field shooting after his 
apparent instincts, i. e ., if he manifestly takes to the woodcock, you will 
do well to thoroughly train him in grounds where only woodcociv arc to 
be found. He is always sure to point the woodcock in preference to the 
quail, providing there are two of these birds in the field not far from 
each other. 
One fine afternoon I was having good shooting in the Merrimack val¬ 
ley. I had bagged eleven fine woodcock, when my dog, after bringing in 
the last bird, made a point in the same direction as the one over which 
I shot the last bird, yet about rods from the place where I killed the 
woodcock two rods nearer to the dog. I advanced, and three fine quail 
rose at once from the hummock, two of which I brought ciown with one 
barrel, and at a long range the third. After bagging my birds I meas¬ 
ured the distance from the place where the fii^t bird was pointed, anti it 
was magnificently done; and the distance at which the other birds lay 
from the dog was 2i rods less than the woodcock was pointed. Now. 
do not dogs have a choice of game as well as men? 
Now Toby, my quail dog, was an aggravating fellow. Out in the 
woodcock shelter he went on,head up and tail “a wagging,"right into the 
bushes, and whew! up went several woodcock, arid if I got a shot and 
bagged a single bird it was a “snap shot,” and to the action of Toby I 
owed no thanks. But let there be one, or a covey of a dozen quail in 
this place, and you saw the good points of Toby at once. He was sure 
of quail, and if he pointed straight yon were never disappointed, and 
had only to walk directly up to him and sight over his nose and you saw 
your game right before you. 
I am very well convinced that the best way to secure good, easy shoot¬ 
ing, is to keep two well trained animals of your own; one for the noble 
sport of woodcock, and the other for quail shooting, and never let them 
go oat with you into the same cover together. I have found them then 
to spoil sport most emphatically. Use your own dogs, and if you shoot 
with a friend never yield up your dog to the control for a single day of 
the “crack shot” of the neighborhood. 
Carlo was a splendid spaniel owned by myself, and I have bagged 
many woodcock with him; but I found by repeated experience that if 
Carlo went out for a day’s shooting with my best friend it took me gen¬ 
erally a week to recover him to bis former good behavior. 
_ L. Wyman, 
AMENDED GAME LAWS. 
INCE publishing out Table of Close Seasons for Game, 
amendments liave been made in the laws of several 
States, which we deem it important to publish, so that our 
readers may make the necessary corrections in the Tables 
received from us. 
NEW YORK. 
The New York Legislature* in its last session, did a good 
deal of tinkering with the game laws of the State. April 
21 an act was passed for the protection and preservation of 
fish in that portion of the Wallkill River in the counties of 
Ulster and Orange. All fish taken from the stream must 
he caugfit with hook and line. March 11 an act was passed 
making it unlawful to take any fish out of the waters of 
Queechy Lake, Columbia county, for a period of three 
years. February 27 an act was passed forbidding persons 
to take fish in Honeyo, Seneca, Cayuga and Canandaigua 
Lakes in any other way than with hook and line. Eels may 
be speared. An act of May 11 declares that quail shall not 
beVaptured or killed in the counties of Genesee, Cayuga, 
Wayne and Orleans for the. space of three years. An act 
of May 12 protects the fisheries of Cross Lake, Onondaga 
county, also of Clyde and Seneca rivers, in the counties of 
Wayne and Cayuga. 
An act of Mav 6 is for the preservation of fish within 
the county of Cortland. An act of May 9 makes it unlaw¬ 
ful to kill or chase any moose or wild deer in any part of 
the State save only during the months of September, Octo¬ 
ber and November, and no person shall expose foi sale oi sell 
or transport the flesh of these animals during any other 
months than September, October, November, December 
and January. It is further declared that no fawn shall 
be killed in its’spotted coat. May 20 the following was 
passed:— 
§ 10. No person shall kill or expose for sale, or have in 
his possession after the same has been killed, any robin, 
brown thrasher, meadow lark or starling, save only during 
the months of August, September, October, November and 
December, under a penalty of five dollars for each bird ; 
and in the counties of Kings, Queens, Putnam and Suffolk, 
no person shall kill or expose for sale, or have in his pos¬ 
session after the same has been killed, of said birds,_ except 
meadow larks, in this section named, except during the 
months of October, November and December, under a 
penalty of five dollars for each bird. 
g 2. The nineteenth section of said act is hereby amended 
to read as follows:— 
8 19. No person shall at any time catch any speckled 
trout with any device save with a hooked line, except ioi 
the purpose of propagation. as hereinafter provided, or 
pla.ee any set line in waters inhabited by them, undei a 
penalty of fifty dollars for each offense; and no person shall 
at any time, except for the puruoseof propagation as afore- 
s lid catch any kind of fish in Lake Saratoga, in the county 
of Saratoga, or in Onondaga or Oneida lakes, tributaries or 
outlets, except minnows, with any device save with hook 
and line. And no person shall at any time use more than 
three lines with hooks attached; and any hook and line un¬ 
attended by the fisherman in person, and all set lines, nets, 
traps and devices other than fair angling as aforesaid, are 
hereby prohibited on said lakes and their tributaries and 
outlets, or within one mile ol the lakes, and when found m 
use or operation are hereby declared forfeit and contia- 
band, and any person finding such set lines, nets or traps 
in said waters is hereby authorised to destroy the same, and 
any person fishing with such prohibited means or devices 
shall be liable to a penalty of not less than ten nor exceed¬ 
ing one hundred dollars. And no person shall take or 
catch any black or Oswego bass in the waters of Lake 
George, except from the twentieth day of July to the first 
day of January, under a penalty bf ten dollars for eacn fisfi 
so taken. 
§ 3. Section twenty-five of said act is hereby amended so 
as to read as follows:— 
§ 25. No person shall kill or catch any fish in the Mo¬ 
hawk or Clyde rivers,|Irondequoit Bay, Braddock’s Bay, 
Little Pond, Round Pond, Cranberry Pond, Buck 
Pond and Long Pond in the county of Monroe, or in tne 
inlets thereof, or the lakes in the counties of Westchester, 
Rockland, Wyoming, Columbia, Ulster, Genesee, Grange, 
Putnam, Herkimer, Rensselaer, Sullivan, Tioga, Cortland, 
Broome' and Livingston, by any trap, dam, weir, net, seine, 
or by any device whatever, other than that of angling wnii 
hook and line or with a spear, under a penalty of twenty- 
five igjfollqgf. for each offence. All fishing in the aloresau 
Braddock’s Bay, Little Pond, Round Pond, Cranberry 
Pond, Buck Pond and'Long Pond in the county ot Monroe, 
in the months of January, February and March, or eitfiei, 
is hereby forbidden and prohibited. 
§ 4. It shall not be lawful between the first day of Dc* 
cember and the fifteenth day of April in any year, to take 
