St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-27
THE WORM IN THE NUT
How 1t Is That So Many Of Thfs
Falls Chestnuts Have Inhabits

rs Ahat oO "duI u 1nEH
Falls Chestnuts Have Inhabit.
ants.
''How does the worm get into the
chestnut" Entomologist Howard, of the
the department Of agriculture, was
asked the question by a Washington
Star reporter, and he replied:
ut is put into the chestnut by a kind
of a -long-snouted beetle. This insect
has a %proboscis of most extraordinary
proportions, as much as twice the length
OF its body. In the business it conducts
such an exceptional nose is abso-
lutely necessary, inasmuch as
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
pricklv husk to the chestnut inside. Is
may be that the beetle thrusts her pro-
boscis actually through the shell of tho
nuts themselves, but my impression is
that she simply lays her eggs and
pushes them with her snout IN among
the nuts, leaving them there to ba
Matched, after which the little worms
bore their way in search of food into
the kernels through holes so small as to
be imperceptibIe. At all events, they
are quickly closed up with the growth
OF the nuts.
'You never find worms in chestnUts
you obtain by smashing the green burrs
open. 1t is only the nuts that are found
upon the ground loose or taken from
rlpened burrs that have fallen which
appear to contain these unpleasant in.
truders. Presumably, the reason for
this is that the worm, imperceptibly
small in the freshly developed nut. be.
gins to feed and to grow very rapidly as
soon as the fruit has become ripe. Al
all events. you never find a worm IN a
chestnut that has a hole in II, but only
the destroyed meat that it has eaten and
discarded. When the creature has fin.
ished devouring the kernel it bores it's
way out through the shell and leaves
the hote behind it.
by the time the worm has consumed
its chestnut and crawied cut to LOOK
upon the world the weather has begun
to be pretty cold. and itseeks shelter by
burrowing into the ground, where it lies
in a torpid condition for many months.
Eventually from the earth it energies.
though not in the shape of 4 worm. but
as a beetle with 4 long snOut. When
autumn comes it waits upon the chest
bbS NV Va III 10 SliOOIi lOOu. IL IL IS a
female. n chooses the proper time for
showing its eggs into the burrs when
they are ripening. These worms
are the new crop, ready to be.
gin anew their destroying work.
and SO the thing goes on from
year to year. In some seasons the bee.
ties are comparatively scarce, and chest
nut worms propOrtlonately. Shippers
of cheStnutS avoid sending their prOduce
for long distances, SO far as is possible.
because the contents of the barrels be-
come heated as they call it, and the
worms are rapidly developed, so that a
consignment may reach the market al
together unfit for use. The best way to
prepare chestnuls for shipment is 30
immense them in boiling water for
about ten minutes as Don as gathered.
WOrmy nuts will float OIL the surface.
and may be removed. All eggs will ba
destroyed, and the condition of the meat
of the nut will be so changed thatit will
not become tlinty by further curing for
winter use. At the same time it will be-
In no wise q boiled chestnut. The nuts
may be dried in the sun or i'm dry-
houses, after being placed in sacks in
such quantities as to admit of their be-
ing 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 q
long time their delicious freshness and
flavor.
1.-The worm 1 have spoken of is nos
the only II that attacks the chestnut.
There is a species of moth that lays its
eggs upon the nuts as they lie upOn the
ground. and the little caterpillars
Matched from the eggs attack the fruit.
The chestnut worm also devOurs the
hickory nut, the chinQuapin and tho
acorn"