PLUM INSECTS 249 



row is reached, the curculios are picked out for destruction, 

 while the beneficial lady-bird beetles are allowed to escape. 



To be most effective, the jarring should be done very early 

 in the morning, for then the beetles are less active, they fall 

 more readily and are less liable to escape from the sheets. 

 The trees should be gone over every morning for four or five 

 weeks, or until no more beetles are captured. Unless cheap 

 labor can be obtained readily, jarring is too expensive for large 

 orchards and in such cases has been generally supplanted by 

 improved methods of spraying. 



Spraying. 



Spraying with arsenate of lead, either alone or combined 

 with a fungicide, has now come to be the favorite method 

 of fighting the curculio on most crops. It has replaced Paris 

 green for this purpose because it adheres better, is less 

 liable to injure the foliage and can be combined with lime- 

 sulfur when used as a fungicide. In general, the foliage of 

 stone fruits is very susceptible to injury from soluble arsenic, 

 even when present in small amounts, and repeated heavy appli- 

 cations of arsenate of lead are attended with some risk. Never- 

 theless, the experience of the past few years has sho^vn that this 

 danger may be avoided by following the system of spraying 

 suggested below. 



Plums. 



Although the control of the curculio on plums by spray- 

 ing is more difficult than on most other fruits, still many 

 growers believe that the results justify the practice. Two 

 applications should be made, the first soon after the petals 

 fall and the second a week or ten days later, using arsenate of 

 lead, 2J pounds in 50 gallons of Bordeaux mixture (2-3-50) or 

 self-boiled lime-sulfur. 



Cherries. 



In general, spraying for curculio on cherries has given better 

 results than on plum. The applications should be made as 

 indicated above. 



