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The Presipent.—And the peach ? 
Mr. Bitturs.—Yes, it attacks the peach. I do not think it will ever become sufti- 
ciently dangerous to the peach to excite much alarm. 
A Memper.—Too much wool ? 
Mr. Bittups.—-Yes, too much wool. If a curculio finds any dirt or dust on a plum 
it is working on it will generally leave it for a clean one. 
The SecreTary.—You think the application of some other dust than Paris green 
would work almost as well ? 
Mr. bittups.—I may be making a rash statement, but I believe if trees were dusted 
with powdered ashes it would be just as efficacious as Paris green. 
The Secretary.—I have a row of cherry trees on the roadside, where it is dusty, 
and I seldom find them affected by the larva of the plum curculio ; that would corrobor- 
ate your theory. 
Mr. Brrtups.—Yes ; I am very glad to hear that statement. So far it has been my 
theory, unsupported, but I do not think I am wrong in saying it. I may not be entirely 
right, but [am right to a great extent. I believe that Paris green acts more as a 
mechanical agent than as a poison. I think when we take into account the small amount 
of food necessary for a curculio, and the limited space it touches upon the plum, it will 
be evident that it can get but a very small dose of the poison. 
Mr. McMicuaru.—Does the larva of the curculio resemble the larva of the codlin 
moth in its habits 4 
Mr. Bittups.—No; it stays in captivity until it is fully ready to enter the earth. 
Mr. McMicuart.—Paris green has no effect upon the larve ? 
Mr. Bittuprs.—No, not the least, because it never sees daylight until it is ready to 
enter the ground; all the work is done in the skin of the plum. 
A Memser.—In regard to the curculio not liking peaches, there cannot be any dust 
on my peaches, for they seem to take them very freely ; I found two rows in which I do 
not believe there was a single peach that had not been bitten two or three times. 
Mr. Bitturs.—I am much interested in learning that fact; it only shows more 
clearly that the curculio is one of the worst enemies the fruit grower has to contend with. 
It would seem that the plum curculio attacks almost any kind of fruit. 
The SecrETARY.—About what length of time do you find that the beetle continues 
its operations! 
Mr. Bintuprs.—As soon as the plum blossom falls it begins, and the day before 
yesterday, July 7th, I found acurculio in the act of laying its egg, which shows very 
clearly that it is incessant. I very carefully watched the tree, and I am satisfied my 
statements are correct. I have seen them on the plum, searching around for a place and 
have seen it force in its beak and withdraw it, and prepare to lay its egg. I think that 
is a thing that Mr. Saunders does not mention in his book—the length of time the cur- 
culio operates, 
Mr. Morpen.—I think it ordinarily does its work in about ten days. 
Mr. Bitturs.—Well, the injurious work is probably done at that early stage, be- 
cause after the fruit is well developed the curculio is comparatively harmless to the fruit, 
though it spoils the look of it. I have had pears, for instance, bitten three or four times ; 
it does not actually kill the pear, but it makes a little rough place. Some people think 
that the better fruit is not attacked, but I do not think thatis so. It is because the 
better fruit is taken more care of and sprayed more frequently. I think they are just as 
likely to attack the better plums as the blue common plum. 
A Memeer.—lIs there any parasite of the curculio? 
Mr. Bittups.—Yes ; but at present my experiments are in such early stages that I 
am not prepared to make any distinct statement on the subject. i may say, however 
