THE PLUM CURCULIO A FOE TO APPLES. I83 



however, form starting places for decay and allow fungoid diseases, 

 which would not otherwise perhaps gain an entrance to the interior, 

 to enter the fruit and play such havoc that the apple is made value- 

 less. It is said that it takes from five to seven days for the egg 

 to hatch, and that the larva, or grub, lives in the apple from eighteen 

 to twenty-one days. It is further claimed that "if the apple does 

 not fall to the ground when the contained larva is half grown, the 

 development of said larva stops, and it dies." (Stedman.) 



The adult beetles have wings by means of which they fly, some- 

 times for long distances, in search of suitable places in which to 

 pass the winter. It may be said, however, that they hibernate, for 

 the most part, under fruit trees, particularly if there is rubbish there 

 or if the ground is in sod which is not disturbed. 



Now, in the orchard to which I referred at the beginning of 

 this article, where practically all of the fruit was destroyed, ideal 

 conditions appear to- exist for the encouragement of this evil : An 

 old orchard, sprayed one year only — in 1902 — sod growing undis- 

 turbed for several years beneath the trees, no' stock of any kind 

 allowed to run in the orchard, and numerous plum trees in close 

 proximity. This is one of the oldest orchards in southern Min- 

 nesota. 



I have given the habits and life history of this pest in some 

 detail, for you all know the necessity of knowledge upon these 

 points in order to combat any pest successfully. From the fore- 

 going facts certain measures of relief appeal to us as practical : 

 for instance, spraying frequently in the early spring and summer, 

 jarring the trees in the cool of the early morning and catching the 

 beetles on sheets below. One enterprising apple grower, however, 

 makes the statement that he gets just as many curculios by jarring 

 between six and seven o'clock in the evening as at any other 

 time. He uses a cheap spread, about fifteen feet square, attached 

 to poles along two opposite sides, so that it may be easily rolled up, 

 and having a slit to the center into which the trunk slips. Jarring 

 the apple trees is continued by him from the time the fruit is the 

 size of marbles until he can catch nO' more beetles. This seems a 

 good rule to follow. 



It should be noted in this connection that jarring means a sud- 

 den, forcible blow, padding the stick or mallet used so as not to 

 injure the bark; not a shaking of the limb, the latter simulating 

 the action of the wind so closely that the beetles would not be 

 sufficiently alarmed to drop and would cling to the twigs until the 

 shaking ceased. 



The ground in an infested orchard should be plowed every fall 



