THE PLUM IN KANSAS. 131 



and made a far better growth than the remainder of the orchard, and 

 at this writing, May 3, the fruit is set much heavier. Now, as to the 

 reason, I can only say that chickens are great cultivators, scratching 

 and enriching the soil. All the summer throvigh the ground is kept 

 moist and free from weeds. Some say the chickens eat the bugs and 

 cause a great crop of fruit. There is nothing in that at all. It is very 

 true a chicken will eat the curculio, but that does not cause the tree 

 to set fruit. In conclusion, I would say fence off your i^lum orchard 

 for a chicken yard, and the heavy crops will more than pay the price 

 of fencing. At the present time all of our plum orchards — Burbank, 

 Abundance, Miner, and Wild Goose — have set fruit, with a fair jDros- 

 pect of maturing a crop. — 3£. E. C, in Kansas Farmer. 



PLUM CURCULIO. 

 From Bulletin No. 65, Utah Experiment Station. 



This pest is very injurious to plums, cherries, peaches, and apricots. 

 The mature insect is a dull gray, rough-backed beetle, about three- 

 sixteenths of an inch long. As soon as the tiny fruits are formed the 

 female beetle is on hand to "sting" them. "Stinging" consists of the 

 female puncturing the skin, then depositing an egg in the i3uncture, 

 and cutting a crescent-shaped slit at one side and beneath the egg. 

 It is then in a little flap and will not be crushed by the development 

 of the fruit. In about a week the egg hatches and the larva tunnels 

 to the pit, where it feeds for from three to five weeks, and then escapes 

 and enters the ground to a depth of a few inches. Here it transforms 

 to the pupa stage, from which it changes to a mature insect in three 

 or four weeks. The beetle spends the winter under any rubbish or 

 under the rough bark of trees. 



Eemcchj: The universal practice is to catch the beetles by jarring. There 

 are several methods of doing this, the most ordinary of which is to spread a sheet- 

 or pieces of canvass on the ground beneath the tree and strike the limbs with a 

 padded mallet. When disturbed the insects "play 'possum," and drop on the 

 sheet, from which they are readily collected and destroyed. 



A more improved method used in commercial orchards is a two-wheeled cart 

 upon which is built a light frame in the position of the ribs of an inverted um- 

 brella. Over this frame is spread a canvas, the center part of which is two or 

 more feet lower than the edge. The canvas has an opening at the center, below 

 which is fastened a zinc box about one foot in length, breadth, and depth. On 

 the front side of the canvas is an opening wide enough to accommodate the- 

 trunk when the cart is pushed under the tree. A few jars with a padded mallet 

 dislodge the beetles and they drop on the canvas from which they are swept into 

 the box below, after which they may be killed in whatever manner is most con- 

 venient. The jarring should be begun as soon as the petals fall and be continued 

 as long as any insects are caught. It is best done in the morning while the in- 

 sects are quiet; later in the day they become active and fly away when dis- 

 turbed. 



Spraying with poisons is also reccommended, but with varying results, by 

 different experimenters. Paris green, London purple, or green arsenoid, one 



