414 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Weed's general conclusions must be convincing in the efficiency of this 

 method of dealing with one of our worst pests: 1. "That about 

 three-fourths of the cherries liable to injury by the plum curculio can 

 be saved by two or three applications of London purple in a water 

 spray, in the proport ; on of one ounce to ten gallons of water. 2. That 

 a sufficiently large proportion of the plum crop can be saved by the 

 same treatment to insure a good yield when a fair amount of fruit is 

 set. 3. That if an interval of a month or more occurs between the 

 last application and the ripening of the fruit, no danger to health need 

 be apprehended from its use. 4. That spraying with the arsenites is- 

 cheaper and more practical than any other known method of prevent- 

 ing the injuries of this insect." The plum experiment of this season, 

 gave a remarkable illustration of the benefits of spraying. The un- 

 treated trees "set a good crop of fruit, but it was entirely ruined by 

 the curculio, not a single plum being left to mature. The crop in the 

 orchard, however, was immense, one-half of the fruit on many of the 

 trees being artificially thinned, and then bearing so much that the limbs 

 bent to the ground, and in some cases broke on account of the great 

 weight." 



Mr. Weed has made extensive experiments with that persistent 

 pest, the striped cucumber beetle. This is one of the worst insects in 

 the vegetable garden. "Fencing out the insects by covering the 

 plants with some form of tent or gauze-covered frame " was the only 

 entirely successful method of preventing devastation. " The cheap- 

 est and most satisfactory method employed is that of protecting each 

 hill by a piece of plant-cloth or cheese-cloth about two feet square. 

 This may be done simply by placing it over the plants and fastening 

 the edges down by small stones and loose earth. It is better, how- 

 ever, to hold it up by means of a half-barrel hoop or a wire bent in the 

 form of a croquet arch." Several styles of these coverings are figured. 

 Other methods employed were the use of hen manure, cow manure, 

 kerosene, carbolic acid, bisulphide of carbon, coal-soot, saltpeter, gyp- 

 sum, pyrethrum, slug shot and peroxide of silicates. "Of these, perox- 

 ide of silicates had a decided effect in preventing injury, and where 

 the plants had been well started before beiug attacked, saved them from 

 destruction. But it did not save them where the beetles were so nu- 

 merous that they burrowed down to meet the sprouting plants." 



The strawberry root-louse is a new insect which Mr. Weed names 

 Aphis Forbesii, in honor of Professor S. 1. Forbes, who first called 

 attention to it. It has proved a serious pest in some parts of Ohio 

 and Illinois, and is no doubt distributed elsewhere. The insects ap- 



