STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 135 



become so changed that the plum curculio can no longer breed in 

 them, or, at least only to a very limited extent. 



In my studies of this subject I have found but one material 

 point that we should guard against ; it is this : In a few of the 

 Native plums — a very few — the plum curculio breeds quite freely. 

 These, no odds how useful their fruits, should not be planted, or if 

 now planted, should be destroyed or grafted to other varieties. A few 

 other varieties will be found of which the fruit mostly rots, the rot 

 spreading from the punctures of this and other insects. 



One other point and I have done; and it is a very valuable one. 

 It is this : Insects must eat to Ike. They are, all of them, vora- 

 cious feeders at some point in their lives, either as young or adults. 

 This gives 'us a chance at them. As Dr. Riley has observed, the 

 wild plums were the original natural food plant of the plum cur- 

 culio. She leaves her winter quarters the first warm days in spring, 

 very hungry. She at once seeks the wild plums above all other 

 plants on which to feed. Now, if we take advantage of this fact, 

 and thoroughly spray our plum trees with the arsenical poisons, just 

 as their buds are swelling, is it not probable that we will poison 

 every one of them? And even that will not be all the advantage 

 gained by such spraying. By it we will destroy nearly every other 

 insect injurious to the foliage of the plum and our other fruit trees. 



By this means we will get the healthy foliage so necessary for 

 hardy, healthy, fruitful, long-lived trees. 



It is true that many of these insects that are very injurious to 

 foliage do not eat solids, but suck the juices by puncturing, there- 

 fore would not take the poisons internally, but it is a fact that these 

 poisons are escharotic in character, or poison and kill their delicate 

 organisms simply by contact, and we do not know but what these 

 poisons will also destroy or prevent the development of fungi. It 

 is reasonable to suppose that they will, many of them. 



Our worthy Secretary did a little spraying to his apple trees 

 last spring, and was most agreeably surprised this fall by gathering 

 a fine crop of apples from the trees so sprayed, and none from any 

 others. And I have no doubt but that if he had looked them over 

 carefully during summer he would have found them with much 

 healthier foliage than the trees not sprayed, and best in every way. 



There are hundreds of species of insects preying on the foliage 

 of our fruit trees just in the nick of time, exactly when they need 

 all their force unimpaired, just when the young fruit is setting and 

 needs perfect nourishing, that spraying with proper poisons will 

 destroy. Therefore, I say that in the native plums, arsenic, Paris 

 Green, London Purple and Buhack, we have the means for the regen- 

 eration of our orchards if we will only use them. 



