196 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



as to give the form of an inverted umbrella, and a narrow opening opposite 

 the handles will permit the center of the sheet to reach the trunk of the 

 tree. A cheaper, simpler and more common arrangement is to have two 

 sheets on light rectangular frames, which when brought side by side will 

 form a square large enough to catch anything that may fall from a tree 

 under which the sheet is placed. If each frame has a square notch in the 

 center of one side they may be brought close together about the trunk of 

 the tree so that the sheets will surely catch whatever may fall. With two 

 men to carry these frames and a third to do the jarring, the work proceeds 

 with great speed. Less than a minute is required per tree. In case one 

 has only a few trees, and no help, the sheet may be square, and slitted 

 from the middle of one side to the center. Opposite this side it is tacked 

 to a light slender piece of wood, and opposite this it is tacked to two 

 similar strips, each one half the length of the side. This makes it easy to 

 carry the sheet, to place it entirely around the tree, and to roll it up, in 

 case we wish to set it away in barn or shed. Of course the sheet should 

 always be large enough to catch all that falls from the trees. 



The mallet with which we strike the tree or limb should be well padded 

 and carefully used so as not to wound the tree, or may be iron or wood 

 unpadded, in which case a bolt or spike is driven into the tree to receive 

 the blow. Sometimes a limb may be sawed off to receive the blow. I have 

 used the padded mallet successfully for years with no injury to the trees. 

 I find that I can fell all the beetles to the sheet with such a mallet Un- 

 less we are very careful, however, in the use of the padded mallet we may 

 do serious damage to the trees. 



When two carry the sheet, and a third party uses the mallet, we may jar 

 several trees before we stop to catch and crush the insects. 



It is usually cool at the early or late hour, and the insects are rather 

 sluggish and will generally remain motionless for some minutes. If one 

 uses a sheet like the last described above, it is perhaps best to kill the insects 

 each time after jarring. In case of the wheel-sheet there is sometimes a 

 box placed at the center and the inclined sheet makes it possible to shake 

 the beetles from the sheet into this box. I am not sure but this is better 

 in theory than in actual practice. The curculio may be brushed into a 

 vessel containing kerosene or crushed between the thumb and finger. 



The expense of jarring will of course depend upon the excellence of the 

 apparatus and upon the skill and quickness of the operators. Our largest 

 and most successful plum-growers in Michigan estimate the expense at 

 about ten cents per tree. I inquired of several of our best pomologists and 

 the estimates ran from five to fifteen cents per tree per season. Surely, 

 this is not an extravagant amount. 



In conclusion let me say that I believe it would pay all our fruit- 

 growers to set plum trees thickly among the other fruit trees of the 

 orchard, and then to fight this insect as described above. This will not 

 only secure a fine and very profitable crop of this luscious fruit, but will 

 at the same time tend to protect the other fruits from this scourge of the 

 careless orchardist, with no extra expense. 



