110 STATE HORTICULTURA.L SOCIETY. 



there was a slight breeze when the tree was damp and scattered that 

 tobacco dust all over the tree. There is only one insect on earth that 

 I know of that will willingly take tobacco in its mouth, and that is re- 

 fined man ; and if we can kill the curculio with tobacco lea, it will kill 

 every insect and not hurt the tree at all. 



Prof. Stedman — I have tried tobacco and carbolic acid, but have 

 not been able to kill curculios with either one. The best results are 

 from jarring, but of course that cannot always be done. 



Now, about man being the only one to take tobacco in its mouthy^ 

 the truth is there are about 20 insects that eat it. 



Mr. Murray — I have had considerable experience in spraying. I 

 want to give a little experience of spraying a plum tree with London 

 purple. I mixed one pound of London pnrple with fifty gallons of 

 water and four pounds of lime. 1 thought I would test that on the 

 trees to see what effect it would have on the foliage, and among others 

 I sprayed one plum tree, and I sprayed it thoroughly ; I put on about 

 two gallons of the solution, and it did not hurt the leaves at all, and I 

 was not thinking about keeping the curculio off; I did it to test it as 

 to burning, and I looked at thai plum tree carefully before coming 

 down here, and I brought a twig of that plum tree with me, and another 

 tree standing near that; I think about one-half of the plums on it are 

 stung. 1 have been told that it is no use to spray for curculio, but I 

 am going to watch them. 



Mr. Gilbert — I would like to ask the professor if it wouldn't be 

 well to pound the soda and lead before trying to dissolve it? 



Mr. Stedman — Yes, sir ; that would do ; the arsenate of soda and 

 acitate of lead comes in lumps, and you can dissolve 15 ounces of this 

 in a bucket of water in a very few minutes. 



The curculio eats a little hole into the plum or cherry or whatever 

 it may be, and deposits its egg in there ; in doing that it has to eat 

 through the surface of the plum and then eats a little crescent or cir- 

 cle around that egg, and in that eating is the only salvation in killing 

 the curculio with the spray ; with the gouger the chances are greater, 

 for the gouger eats much more. 



Mrs. Moyer — I would like to know what kind ot a looking animal 

 or insect this gouger is ? This spring we have noticed something eat- 

 ing the little short twigs off the peach tree, and they eai some off 

 until the limb drops oft' and we found a big bug there. The children 

 call it a stink bug, and I would like to know what it is, for that is what 

 is causing all the trouble. I would also like to ask if this formula you 

 are speaking of will prevent the rot on the early peach and some of 



