240 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



October, 1913. 



A Prolific Beariag Tree on the Farm of Roberl Njwcombe, Belcher ^Street, King's Connty, N.S. 



problem and not until the farmer accepts 

 the road passing through his farm as a 

 part of his farm will the problem be 

 solved." But some farmers are so 

 crowded with other work and others so 

 carelessly indifferent that the work of 

 those who would clean up is largely lost 

 through the negligence of others. 



If I were allowed to make a sugges- 

 tion, I would say : Let the Government 

 appoint competent men who would do 

 the work thoroughly. Where careless 

 farmers or others neglect the work on 

 their own trees, let the Government 

 agent do the work at the expense of the 

 occupant. 



Controlling the Plum Curculio 



Arthur Gibson, Chief Asst. Entomologist, C.E.F. Ottawa 



THIS well-known enemy of the plum 

 and apple has a special fondness 

 for the fruit of the apple, both in 

 the adult as well as in the larval state. 

 The adult beetles hibernate beneath rub- 

 bish and dead leaves on the ground, or 

 even under the rough bark of trees. In 

 size the beetle is a little less than a quar- 

 ter of an inch in length and in color is 

 brown and rough, with black and grey- 

 ish markings. 



In early spring, about the time the 

 buds are bursting, the beetles leave 

 their winter quarters and soon seek 

 nearby fruit trees which later they at- 

 tack, and in the fruit of which they lay 

 their eggs. Soon after the blossoms 

 fall, sometimes within two or three 

 days, injury by the Plum Curculio is de- 

 tected. The females lay their eggs 

 mostly in June, but egg-laying is con- 

 tinued throughout July and into August. 

 The eggs hatch in about four or five 

 days, and the young grubs at once be- 

 gin to burrow through the fruit. Several 

 grubs may occur within a single apple ; 

 in fact, as many as eleven have been 



fQwn<} within on« specimen, In such 



cases, of course, practically the whole 

 inside of the fruit is eaten. 



LENGTH OF ACTIVE LIFE 



From the time the eggs are laid until 

 the time the grubs are mature and leave 

 the fruit to pupate in the ground, a 

 period from about three weeks to a 

 month or so is passed as a pupa, in the 

 earth a short distance below the sur- 

 face. In late July and in August and 

 September the beetles emerge from the 

 pupa, and from the time of their av- 

 pearance until they seek winter quar- 

 ters for hibernation, eating is their chief 

 occupation. 



It is during this period that the im- 

 portant damage is done by the adult 

 beetles in feeding. In spring the punc- 

 tures made by the beetles feeding are 

 usually small, and in the growth of the 

 apple do not later, as a rule, show to 

 any marked extent, but in the late sum- 

 mer and autumn irionths the punctures 

 are large, and several may be present 

 in the same apple. After these punc- 

 tures have been made by the beetles, 

 the whole is rendered larger by evapor- 

 ation and the skin and flesh become dis- 



colored, the whole, of course, rendering 

 the fruit unfit for the market. Besides 

 the plum and apple, cherry, pear and 

 apricot are also attacked by the Plum 

 Curculio. 



In the control of this insect there are 

 three chief recommendations to make, 

 namely : First, spraying the trees to de- 

 stroy the adult beetles, clean cultivation 

 and the getting rid of all rubbish ; sec- 

 ond, the careful gathering up and de- 

 struction of all fallen fruit; third, clean 

 cultivation. 



Where spraying with the poisoned 

 Bordeaux mixture is regularly practiced, 

 using as a poison about three pounds of 

 arsenate of lead to every forty gallons 

 of mixture, a very large percentage of 

 the beetles will be destroyed. The 

 spraying immediately after the blossoms 

 fall is very important, as this will catch 

 many of the insects at a time when the 

 females are about to begin ovipositing. 

 The gathering up as much as possible of 

 all fallen fruit particularly in the earlier 

 part of the season and destroying the 

 same, will of course, also destroy large 

 numbers of the larvje within the fruit. If 

 it is impossible to destroy the fruit eith- 

 er by boiling or by burying it in a deep 

 hole and covering with earth, it might 

 be spread out in an open space so that 

 the direct rays of the sun would reach 

 the apples. The grubs are very delicate 

 and experiments have shown that when 

 direct sunlight falls upon the young fruit 

 the contained grubs are killed. 



DESTKOY ALL EUBBISH 



All weeds or other useless vegetation 

 and rubbish should be removed and in 

 orchards where surface cultivation is 

 practiced, especially during July, large 

 numbers of the pupae will be disturbed 

 by being exposed to weather conditions, 

 birds and other enemies. With regard 

 to such cleaning up it is important that 

 all useless growth near fences and along 

 road sides be removed as well as all wild 

 pluips and other useless nearby fruit 

 trees. 



When buying nursery stock, the grow- 

 er should stipulate the class of stock de- 

 sired, and should expressly intimate 

 that if stock is not satisfactory it will 

 not be paid for. Orders should be sent 

 in early and stock should be delivered 

 early. Stock which arrives late and 

 proves unsatisfactory is very often 

 planted by men who would rather take 

 chances and say nothing than to refuse 

 the stock and wait another year in or- 

 der to secure better trees. On receipt 

 from the nursery, trees should be in- 

 spected at once. If at all dried out they 

 should be heeled in immediately, and if 

 seriously dried out the entire tree should 

 be buried in the ground, but even then 

 recovery is not always certain. — Prof. J. 

 W. Crow, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



