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386 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. i -“" 
After the buds are two or three feet high it will be found necessary 
to give each one a substantial stake to keep it from blowing over, as 
great damage is often donein this way. Itisalso sometimes found 
necessary to stake the branches of old trees which have substantial 
trunks. This is done to keep the branches from breaking down 
with the weight of fruit. The same results may be accomplished in 
years when a great yield is promising by removing about two-thirds 
of the fruit after it has attained about half size. This not only 
enables one to remove many of the plums which were injured by 
the curculios and gougers earlier in the season, but also the fruit 
which remains will be much larger and better. 
Just as the truit is beginning to set, small round specks and 
crescent-shaped markings will be noticed, particularly when the 
plums area few weeks older. These round specks are the work of 
the gougers, while the cresent-shaped markings are the trade-marks 
of curculios, both of which insects do great injury to crops every 
year. Each one has a separate domain where it lays it eggs and 
where the larve seek their food. The plum gouger lays anegg next 
to tae stone, where on hatching the larve immediately enters the 
pit—which is still soft—and there tinds its food. This gives the 
plum a wormy pit and causes trouble when the fruit is used whole.. 
The curculio lays an egg onthe surface of the plumin a small 
depression and then cuts a crescent-shaped mark between it and the 
stem, which prevents the flesh from growing over and eventually 
squeezing the egg to death. It takes a wonderfully fast growing 
plum to kill an egg in this way. 
These injurious insects may easily be battled by placing a couple 
of sheets under the tree, and giving the trunk and branches a few 
sharp raps, imitating as much as possible those of the woodpecker. 
These raps frightens the curculios and gougers, which immediately 
drop to the ground and are easily detected on the white sheets. On 
close inspection, they will both be seen to have an elongated snout-’ 
shaped head, which gives them the name of snout beetles. The 
gouger may, however, be easily distinguished from the curculio 
by the size and color, the curculio being quite small and nearly 
black, while the gouger is much larger and brown in color. 
Pitting plums for seed was a task which occupied a good share of 
our time toward the latter part of the plum season. When gather- 
ing good plums to sell, poor ones were also gathered from the 
ground, and from these the pits were removed by rotting and wash- 
ing the pulp away. 
Conifera Beds—In the preparation of conifera beds the soil is 
one of the most important factdrs of success, and itshould atleast be 
good corn land well plowed and harrowed besides further reduced 
to fineness by thoroughly raking. In fact, no pains should be 
spared in getting it into good condition, as this will greatly facili- 
tate the planting of the seed. After it has reached a state of exceed- 
ing tilth, it should be made into beds and the seed sown quite thick 
in rows about six inches apart. 
Just as the cotyledons are beginning to apper, a frame should be 
built over the bed and covered with enough leaves and branches to 
