Feb.] the ORCHARD. 143 
and continue to produce no fruit, though having arrived at a pro- 
per age for that purpose, thej may be forced into a bearing state 
bj opening the ground around them and cutting through a few of 
their largest roots, but especially the descending ones; the depriva- 
tion which will arise from this, of their extraordinary resources, 
which was the cause of their running into such a lusuriancyof 
wood, will soon bring them into a bearing state; but be careful 
that you smooth with a chisel or other sharp instrument, the roots 
at the amputations, and not have them in a mangled state, which 
might bring on diseases that probably would destroy the trees. 
The following extracts taken from a communication made by that 
ingenious citizen. Doctor James Tilton, of Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, and published in the first American edition of the Domestic 
Encyclopaedia, by Messrs. Birch and Small, Philadelphia, are wor- 
thy of attention; and the laudable efforts of that gentleman, both 
in agricultural and horticultural pursuits, are highly meritorious 
and deserving of emulation. 
"Curculio, a genus of insects belonging to the Coleoptera or 
Beetle order. The species are said to be very numerous. The im- 
mense damage done by an insect of this tribe to the fruits of this 
country, of which there is no similar account in Europe, has given 
rise to a conjecture with some naturalists, that we have a peculiar 
and very destructive species in America. 
"The manner in which this insect injures and destroys our fruits, 
is by its mode of propagation. Early in the spring, about the time 
when the fruit trees are in blossom, the Curculiones ascend in swarms 
from the earth, crawl up the trees, and as the several fruits advance, 
they puncture the rind or skin with their pointed rostra, and de- 
posit their embryos in the wounds thus inflicted. The maggot thus 
bedded in the fruit, preys upon its pulp and juices, until in most 
instances the fruit perishes, falls to the ground, and the insect 
escaping from so unsafe a residence, makes a sure retreat into the 
earth; where, like other beetles, it remains in the form of a grub or 
worm during the winter, ready to be metamorphosed into a bug or 
beetle as the spring advances. Thus every tree furnishes its own 
enemy; for although these bugs have manifestly the capacity of 
flying, they appear very reluctant in the use of their wings; and 
perhaps never employ them but when necessity compels them to 
migrate. It is a fact, that two trees of the same kind may stand 
in the nearest possible neighbourhood, not to touch each other, that 
one shall have its fruit destroyed by the Curculio, and the other be 
uninjured, merely from contingent circumstances which prevent 
the insects from crawling up the one, while they are uninterrupted 
from climbing the other. 
"The Curculio delights most in the smooth skinned stone fruits, 
such as nectarines, plumbs, apricots, &c. when they abound on a 
farm: they nevertheless attack the rough skinned peach, the apple, 
pear, and quince. The instinctive sagacity of these creatures di- 
rects them especially to the fruits most adapted to their purpose. 
The stone fruits more certainly perish by the wounds made by these 
insects, so as to fall in due time to the ground and afford an oppor- 
