82 
THE CURCULIO. 
Watched, as the plum and fruit-trees always 
should be, by the gardener, as soon as his mark is 
seen on the plums, which will be generally as soon 
as the plum is left naked by the blossom, a sheet 
of sufficient dimensions should be suspended be¬ 
neath the' tree, by two or three individuals, or 
otherwise; then give the tree a sudden rap, or 
jar, and the insect immediately foils upon it, and, 
feigning himself dead, very much resembles a 
raisin seed in form, ( Jig. 18.) 
(Fig. 18.) 
I l 
“The insect, when shook from the tree!, assumes the above form, 
either that of the upper or lower figure, and keeps the feign¬ 
ed appearance a moment or two. 
All the curculios on the sheet should be crushed 
between the thumb and finger, and all the stung 
plums that fall from the tree should be put into 
the fire. 
I would impress upon the mind of the gardener 
the importance of assiduously attending upon his 
destruction in the month of June. The trees should 
be shaken twice or three times daily, certainly in 
the morning and evening, in order that the beetles 
may be crushed, and all the wounded fruit gath¬ 
ered and put into the fire. I have observed that 
usually after the twenty-fifth of July he is not to 
be found. 
If the first generation, which operates in June, 
are well destroyed, we have less, yea, very little, 
to fear from the second generation, which work in 
July. Children, who are always urged, by impul¬ 
sive curiosity, to examine and investigate any new 
and curious object—of an insect, flower, or pebble, 
are ready and sufficient hands to perform much of 
this work, and gladly will they perform it when 
promised a share of the product. 
This mode of protecting and preserving plums 
from the curculio, I have always found to succeed. 
I am aware, that the labor required may be 
thought an objection to this mode of warfare, and 
that the result will not warrant the time and pains; 
but if the orchardist will tar his apple-trees to pro¬ 
tect against the canker-worm, and the gardener 
spend time to kill the cut-worm, and water his 
plants in a dry season, surely this course is also 
justifiable: the result will justify the means. 
A tree standing near the door, if jarred and shook 
several times a day, as it may be passed, would 
be likely to succeed, as this course would discom¬ 
mode and frustrate the insect in his work. 
Plum-trees, standing in a hog-yard, frequently 
sustain partial crops, for the hogs are frequently, 
during the day, rubbing against them, and are 
pretty sure to eat all those that fall to the earth. 
Plums can be saved, even after the egg is laid 
in them, by a trivial operation, if done before it 
has hatched; and this operation I have practised 
successfully and repeatedly. 
(Fig. 19.) 
Showing the method of 
destroying the eggs with 
a quill. 
You may smile at a ma¬ 
noeuvre, which is to destroy 
an almost infinitesimal egg, 
with an instrument made 
of a quill, like a tooth-pick; 
but this the fruit-amateur 
will do with pleasure, if 
thereby he can save a plum 
on a new young tree, to test 
the fruit of which he has 
been waiting patiently with 
hopeful anxiety. It is well 
worth the while to do this 
on low trees, in point of 
economy. 
It may be well to re¬ 
mark, that the egg is de¬ 
posited in the inner circle 
of the incision, under a 
small discolored portion of 
the skin of the plum, and 
the operation consists in 
removing this discolored 
portion of the skin, and 
scooping out the egg with 
the instrument, (Jig. 19.) 
The desire which has 
been manifested in the com¬ 
munity to possess a knowledge of this insect, the 
manner in which he operates, and a means of de¬ 
stroying him, must be my apology for thus far pro¬ 
longing these remarks. 
Warty or Black Excrescence. —A communi¬ 
cation from William Prince & Co., some few weeks 
since, to the Editor of the New England Farmer, 
in which a list of the kinds of plum is made out, 
which, they say, are not subject to the fungus or 
warty excrescences, has induced me to state my 
opinion concerning the nature of that disease. 
I do not remember to have seen that disease 
spoken of except in connexion with the belief that 
it is caused by an insect; and I believed it to be 
so produced, until observation proved to me that it 
was attributed to the wrong cause. The reason 
any one would offer as proof that the disease was 
caused by the curculio, is that its larvae are some¬ 
times found in this juicy fungus. 
There is one analogous reason for attributing 
this fungus to the curculio, or some insect; that 
is, the production of galls upon the oak by the 
puncture of an insect, and the depositing his egg 
in the puncture. But how uniform, in form and 
size, are these galls, compared with these excres¬ 
cences, which are very irregular in form and size. 
So far as I have been able to observe, by dissect¬ 
ing these fungi, they appear to arise in that part 
or texture called the alburnum. 
I have thought that the proximate cause might 
be an obstruction in the vessels of that texture, by- 
reason of the unhealthiness of the sap. The ves¬ 
sels bursr, and the sap is poured out under the 
bark. Now the sap is as full of the life of the 
tree as blood is full of the life of an animal. 
This extravasated sap will immediately become 
‘ organized, or partially so, and, rapidly increasing, 
