Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-08

necessary, inasmuch a. when the female
desires to lay her eggs she crawls over
the chestnut burr as it hangs on the tree not
yet ripe and seeks the little opening at the top,
through which she inserts her snout. The
snout thus introduced is projected down
through the thick prickly husk to the chestnut
inside. 1t may be that the beetle thrusts her
proboscis actually through the shell of the nuts
themselves, but my impression is that she SIM
ply lays her eggs and pushes them with her
snout in among the nuts, leaving them there to
be hatcbed, after which the little worms bore
their way in search of food into the kernels
through holes 80 small as to be imperceptible
At all events they are quickly closed up with
the growth of the nuts.
'You never find worms in chestnuts you OBJ
tain by smashing the green burrs open. 1t is
only the nuts that are found upon the ground
loose or taken from ripened burrs that have
fallen which appear to contain these unpleas-
ant intruders Presumably. the reason for this
Is that the worm, imperceptibly small in the
freshly developed nut. begins to feed and to
grow very rapidly as soon as the fruit has be-
come ripe. At ali events, you never find .
worm in a chestnut that has q hole in it, but
only the destroyed meat that it has eaten and
discarded When the creature has finished de-
vouring the kernel it bores its way out through
the shell and leaves the hole behind it
"By the time the worm has consumed it's
chestnut and crawled out to look upon the
world the weather has begun to be pretty
cold, and it seeks shelter by burrowing into the
ground, where 1t lies in a torpid condition for
many months. Eventually from the earth it
emerges, though not in the shape Of q worm,
but as q beetle with a long snout. When
autumn comes, it waits upon the chestnut
tree or in it's neighborhood, if it is a female,
and chooses the proper time for showing its
eggs into the burrs when they are ripenIng
These worms are the new crop. ready to begin
anew their destroying work, and SO the thing
goes on from year to year. In some seasons
the beetles are comparatively scarce, and chest
nut worms proportionately. Shippers Of chest
nuts avoid sending their product for long dis
tances SO far as is possible, because the con-
tents Of the barrels become heated as they
call it, and the worms are rapidly developed,
SO that consignment may reach
the market altogether unfit for use.
The best way to prepare cbestnuts for ship
about ten minutes as soon as gathered. Wormy
nuts will float on the surface and may be re-
moved. All eggs will be destroyed and the
condition of the meat OF the nut will be 80
changed that il will not become fiiinty by fur
Their curing for winter use. At the same time
1t will De in wise boiled chestnut. The
nuts may be dried in the sun or in dry
houses after being placed in sacks in such
quantities az to admit of their being spread to
the thickness of about two inches, the sack
being frequently turned and shaken. Dried
by this method they remain quite tender
and retain for a long time their delicious fresh
ness and flavor.
THE worm have spoken of is not the only
one that attacks the chestnut. There is
species Of moth that lays its eggs upon the
nuts as they lie upon the ground. and the little
caterpiiiars hstched from tho eggs attack the
fruit. The chestnut worm also devours the
hickory nut, the chinquapin and the acorn"