The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1880-02-27
FAeqs FOR FARMERS.


THE CuRcuIdo AND HIS WAYS.
In the spring, when the air grows soft
and warm, and Just as the apricot, the
plum and the peach blossoms begin TO
fade and drop. the frllit-grower will
have visit from the carctilio. The Wis
itor will make no parade in coming; re-
ceptions and reception committees, with
their flags and music, their speeches and
nonsense, are of no account TO him. lie
will come like thief in the night, and
20 TO work at once; though, unlike most
thieves, he will work during the day as
well as at night to destroy the fruit
growers hopes. His coming means ruin |
and robbery; still there 10 nothing ma
4 llicious about his work--it ia merely in
| the way of "business,v and that business |
is not primarily to destroy the fruit, but |
merely to use It as a convenience for the
propagation Of his species. And that re-
minds me To remark that, In referring to
this inseet-destroyer as she" the fitness
4 of things is not strictly followed--it is a
''shen who does the mischief There is
q 'he,n no doubt, somewhere about, but
he cuts no figure on the canvas-some-
thing like the husbands Of woman
suffrage females at woman-sufrage meet
inas.
lust then, as the blossom shrivels and
falls, leaving on its stem little infini-
tesilmal specimen of fruit, the curculio
begins work. Armed with sharp pro-
boslis, she makes crescent-shaped in
cision in the embryo fruit, then turns
and deposits in this incision a minute
egg. That ls the whole OF her Work
There are no stings to destroy 1t, no eat
ing off at the stem, no gnawing here and
there for food purposes. What further
harm is done is from the progeny. The
egg or nit changes to a grub in a few
days. and proceeds at once to burrow
into the fruit until the stone or pit is
reached At this period Of growth the
pit is soft and is easily pierced, and that
ruins 1t ultimately. Growth is checked,
then il shrivels, then drops to the earth.
Bv this time the insignificant grub has
become worm, perhaps quarter Of an
inch long, and is ready to sever his con-
nection with the fruit He gets out at
an early moment and enters the earth.
J How far down he goes, or how long he
J STAYS, nobody seems to know exactly;
! | the most we know is that the next
: spring he has ceased to be a worm, and
e. Is now full grown bug or curculIo,
, after the pattern Of his ancestors He
: skc. mean, as general thing-is now
= ready to enter the business Of thinning
t out fruit for the coming year.
!. Legions of remedies have been tried,
q but the best and most reliable observers
v and experimenterH pronounce them all
q failures, except one, and that Is partial
r failure. and always will be, without
i something like unanimous action among
t fruit-gr0wers-- is, To destroy the
q fallen fruit each day as it falls, and also
y once day or oftener, to 60 over the
+ fruit orchard, jan the insects down upon
/ white sheet and destroy them The
S sheet must be large enough to cover the
II ground under the tree, and with slit
: rom the middle to the center, so that il
y can be passed along the sides Of the
e trunk Of the tree. A light piece of wood
e is nailed TO two Of the edges, so that Il
g can be conveniently lifted aud--oh, shit
% from tree to tree. Small trees can be
81 iarred by b ow on the trunk with I
e. rubber mallet, but large ones must be
ls struck on the limbs The sudden jal
n alarms the insect; she draws up her feet
sr takes in her proboscis and drops, feign
q ing death. She lDoks, as she lies on ths
n sheet, more like little dried bud thar
+. anything else, and stranger would no
1r imagine the thing to be an insect She
II will not move for some minutes, and IL
az this condition should be picked up ant
n mashed, or bottled for future examina
a ton and study. A pill-bottle Of the no
n. lncepathic variety, carried in the vest
"a pocket, is Just the thing for the purpose
ia After being bottled short time the in
sects will begin to crawl, and they cal
n be critically examined. A hundred Q
d. two can be stored in one of these bottles
=. and win live there. corked up for da,
~ or two, A safe place to deposit then
bo when the bottle is full or is wanted 70
Ia other purposes is to lay them gently il
in the fire. II might be supposed tina
IT. chickens would eat them, but generall
nd they decline.
RS, srILToN CHEESE.
ce This is the name Of an English styl
be of cheese, quantities Of which are in
, a ported and sold at high prices. And ye
ey Il is not expensive nor difficult to manu-
no facture when the process is once learned
its 1t has, when rightly made and cured,
er peculiar flavor, and is highly appreciate
m. by those who become used to it. 1t
I'd said to be made by adding the cream {
er. one milk to the whole milk of the mex
ire in the proportion of one quart Of crear
ms to ten ouaris of the whole milk. II
nd then coagu,atcd in the usual way by rs
or nuct. the curd cut in the cubes, lifte
)n, carefully into q strainer, and the wbe
la drained off. 1t is then placed in hooI
ar- set on shelf without any pressure Q
ie- weight being put on it, and turned lou
he or five times day. To aid in havin
u.s. the cheese cured rightly, it is importar
in they should be Of the proper size {
ng shape, which is about eight inches
he diameter and eight or nine inches higl
lal When sufficiently hardened by STANDING
,ut it 10 taken to the curing room and salte
or which Is done by application Of salt
v. outside only. II is then removed to
ed warmer room, but what exact temper
go- ture we are not informed. Here bill
ng. mold is developed upon it, running
yes streaks through the entire cheese. 1h
N, gives it the peculiar flavor, which is
ID highly reIished by those who are fond
ss, it. ,.,v s.c,.