The Curculio.
Mr. Winn Gunn, of Shelbyville, Kentucky,
sends us the following interesting statement in reference
to the destruction of this pest to fruit:
In the spring of 1860, I noticed some of my plums
punctured. Having succeeded in catching the
[several lines illegible due to paper fold]
it around my plum trees. I removed
the grass about a foot around the tree, placed trashwool
on the cleared ground, and wrapt it around
the forks of the tree. On looking the next day, I
found my trap had caught "a number of the enemy,"
they having become entangled in the wool.
This tree produced a bountiful crop, while the fruit
on others in twenty feet of it "came to naught."
1861 I treated part of the others the same way -- with
like result. Also in 1862. In 1863 I treated all my
trees the same way. A more healthy and abundant
crop of plums I never saw. I have eight varieties
-- I have a free-stone damson that deserves a place
in every fruit yard, being hardy, and very prolific,
a superior fruit for canning or drying.
EN