124 ANNUAL REPORT. 



remedies. The black knot when it attacks is very destructive. A 

 writer in one of the prominent New England journals claims that 

 it is occasioned by poverty of soil, and poor cultivation. This is a 

 mistake, as natural groves of thrifty wild ones are frequently en- 

 tirely killed by it. The only safety lies in carefully cutting out 

 and burning every appearance of it, by which means it can 

 be prevented from doing any harm. 



In regard to rotting on the tree, it is found that some varieties are 

 much more liable than others, but close pruning of the tree and 

 thinning of the fruit are the most effectual remedies. A.s an 

 offset to these difficulties in growing the trees, its advantages are 

 that it is tenacious of life, and adapted to all our soils, whether on 

 the stiff clays of the high lands or on the light sands of the river 

 bottoms; it withstands our hardest winters, being perfectly hardy, 

 and is as prolific as any tree that bears fruit. It is also easily pro- 

 pagated, either by budding, any manner of grafting, growing from 

 pieces of the root, or planting the seed. 



DISCUSSION OF MB. LOBD'S PAPEB. 



Mr. Emery. Does the curculio spoil the plum when it fails to 

 puncture the pit ? 



Mr. Golden. Yes. I find a small black spot where the insect 

 simply pierces the skin. It there deposits the egg, and if the 

 larvae is strong enough, it makes its way in and destroys the plum. 



Mr. Emery. I think the egg is deposited usually within two 

 weeks after the appearance of the bloom, but if the pit is not 

 punctured, the egg dies, the wound heals up, the plum, though 

 somewhat injured, grows on to maturity. This is my conclusion 

 after considerable observation of the plums we have growing in 

 this state. 



Mr. R. Porter recommended scraping the rough bark from the 

 trees, thus removing the hiding place of the curculio. 



Mr. Gideon had tried sprinkling his trees with a weak solution of 

 coal tar and chloride of lime. Went over them three times, always 

 repeating the operation after a rain. He found the remedy suc- 

 cessful. Few plums and not a single peach were injured. 



Secretary Gibbs. The best remedy I have seen for the curculio, 

 was pointed out to me last September by Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant, 

 director of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, at 



