182 THE PLUM CURCULIO. 
In the report of the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture for 
Michigan for 1887, Prof. A. J. Cook reports upon Paris green for the 
curculio as follows: 
Paris green in the proportion of 1 tablespoonful to 6 gallons of water was very thor- 
oughly sprayed upon 4 plum trees May 18. The petals had all fallen, but the dried 
calyces still clung to the fruit. On August 20 the trees were visited, when it was 
found that the two treated trees of the wild goose variety had dropped all their fruit, 
as had the untreated trees of the same kind. Another treated tree of a yellow variety 
was loaded with plums, of which only 15 per cent were stung and those not badly. 
The fourth treated tree was a purple variety and had not less than 75 per cent of its 
fruit badly stung. ; 
During the season of 1887 experiments were begun with Paris green 
sprays by Prof. W. B. Alwood, at that time an agent of the Division 
of Entomology of this department, as detailed in the Report of the 
Entomologist for that year. These experiments were not begun 
until after the beetles had commenced work. No definite inferences 
in regard to the experiments may be drawn, since these were not 
finally concluded. Prof. Alwood thought, however, that the cur- 
culios ate enough to make it possible to poison some of them, but the 
benefit derived was in his opinion yet unsettled. 
In Bulletin 3 of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, issued in 
May, 1888, Prof. C. M. Weed, under the caption ‘‘ Experiments with 
remedies for the plum curculio,” announced proposed tests of three 
specified methods of control of this insect, and adds: 
Spraying with London purple or Paris green as soon as the blossoms fall as recom- 
mended for the apple. I am reliably informed by many of the largest fruit-growing 
firms of western New York that in this way they succeeded in avoiding the curculio 
and raised large crops of plums. The method has been recommended at various times 
for several years, but as yet has certainly received little attention. 
The same season Prof. Weed put into effect his line of treatment, 
the results of which were given in Bulletin 4 of the Ohio Station, 
which appeared in July. A young orchard of early Richmond cher- 
ries was employed, and in regard to his work he concluded as follows: 
(1) That 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 propor- 
tion of 1 ounce to 5 gallons of water) made soon after the blossoms fall. (2) That if 
an interval of a month occurs between the last application and the ripening of the 
fruit no danger to health need be apprehended from its use. As a precautionary 
measure, however, I would advise in all cases, and especially where there are few 
rains during this interval, that the fruit be thoroughly washed before it is used. 
Prof. Weed continued his studies of spraying for the curculio in 
1889, using also the early Richmond cherry. His statement of 
results covering two seasons’ work on cherry is as follows: 
This series of experiments carried on through two seasons upon two varieties of cherry 
trees and four varieties of plum trees, during which a total of 6,500 cherries have been 
individually examined, seems to me to confirm the conclusions provisionally an- 
nounced one year ago, which may now be put in the following form: (1) That about 
