. The fruits and fruit trees of America : or, The culture, propagation and management, in the garden and orchard, of fruit trees generally, with descriptions of all the finest varieties of fruit, native and foreign, cultivated in this country . Fruit-culture; Fruit. S54 THE PLUM indeed, often the whole crop, fall from the trees when half ot two-thirds grown. If he examines these falling fruits, he will perceive on the surface of each, not far from the stalk, a small semi-iircular scar. This star is the crescent-shaped insignia of that little Turk, the curculio; an insect so small, as perhaps,
. The fruits and fruit trees of America : or, The culture, propagation and management, in the garden and orchard, of fruit trees generally, with descriptions of all the finest varieties of fruit, native and foreign, cultivated in this country . Fruit-culture; Fruit. S54 THE PLUM indeed, often the whole crop, fall from the trees when half ot two-thirds grown. If he examines these falling fruits, he will perceive on the surface of each, not far from the stalk, a small semi-iircular scar. This star is the crescent-shaped insignia of that little Turk, the curculio; an insect so small, as perhaps, to have es- caped his observation for years, unless particularly drawn to it, but which nevertheless appropriates to himself the whole pro- duct of a tree, or an orchard of a thousand trees. The habits of this curculio, or plum-weevil, are not yet fully and entirely ascertained. But careful observation has resulted in establishing the following points in its history. The plum-weevil is a small, dark brown beetle, with spots of white, yellow, and black. Its leng-th is scarcely one-fifth of an inch. On its back are two black humps, and it is ftirnish- ed with a pretty long, curbed throat and snout, which, when it is at rest, i? bent between the forelegs. It is also provided with two wings with which it flies through the air. How far this insect flies is yet a disputed point, some cultivators affirming that it scarcely goes far- ther than a single tree, and others believing ^' ifaTirt "''^ t'^^* ^* ^^®^ <'^®'' * ^^°^^ neighbourhood. Our own observation inclines us to the belief that this insect emigrates just in proportion as it finds in more or less abundance the tender fruit for depositing its eggs. Very rarely do we see more than one puncture in a plum, and, if the insects are abundant, the trees of a single spot will not afi'oi'd a sufii- jient number for the purpose ; then there is little doub*; (as we have seen them flying through the air,) that the insect flies f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookpub, booksubjectfruitculture
