THE PLUM. 
355 
Early in July the punctured plums begin to fall rapidly from 
the tree. The egg deposited in each, at first invisible, has be- 
come a white grub or larva, which slowly eats its way towards 
the stone or pit. As soon as it reaches this point, the fruit falls 
to the ground. Here, if left undisturbed, the grub soon finds 
its way into the soil. 
There, according to most cultivators of fruit, and to our own 
observations, the grubs or larvae remain till the ensuing spring, 
when in their perfect form they again emerge as beetles and 
renew their ravages on the fruit. It is true that Harris, and 
some other naturalists, have proved that the insect does some- 
times undergo its final transformation and emerge from the 
ground in twenty days, but we are inclined to the opinion that 
this only takes place with a small portion of the brood, which, 
perhaps, have penetrated but a very short distance below the 
surface of the soil. These making their appearance in mid- 
summer, and finding no young fruit, deposit their eggs in the 
young branches of trees, etc. But it is undeniable that the sea- 
son of the plum-weevil is early spring, and that most of the larva? 
which produce the annual swarm, remain in the soil during the 
whole period intervening since the fall of the previous year’s 
fruit. 
There are several modes of destroying this troublesome insect. 
Before detailing them, we will again allude to the fact, that we 
have never known an instance of its being troublesome in a 
heavy soil. Almost always the complaint comes from portions 
of country where the soil is light and sandy. The explanation 
of this would seem to be that the compact nature of a clayey 
soil is not favourable to the passage or life of this insect, while 
the warm and easily permeable surface of sandy land nurses 
every insect through its tender larva state. Plum trees growing 
in hard trodden court-yards, usually bear plentiful crops. Fol- 
lowing these hints some persons have deterred the plum-weevil 
by paving beneath the trees ; and we have lately seen a most 
successful experiment which consisted in spreading beneath the 
tree as far as the branches extended a mortar made of stiff clay 
about the thickness of two or three inches — which completely 
prevented the descent of the insect into the earth. This is 
quickly and easily applied, and may therefore be renewed every 
season until it is no longer found necessary. 
The other modes of destroying the plum-weevil are the fol- 
lowing : — 
1. Shaking the tree and killing the beetles. Watch the young 
fruit, and you will perceive when the insect makes its appear- 
ance, by its punctures upon them. Spread some sheets under 
the tree, and strike the trunk pretty sharply several times with 
a wooden mallet. Tke insects will quickly fall, and should be 
killed immediately. This should be repeated daily for a week. 
