THE PLUMS 



153 



all branches which bear the swollen plums, and to cut 

 back far enough to get rid of the fungus threads in the 

 tissues of the twig. 



The foliage of both plum and cherry trees is often 

 seriously injured by Leaf-spot, a fungous disease which 

 first appears in the form of small discolored spots, 

 generally purplish in color. 

 These spots soon turn 

 brown, and when the spots 

 are numerous the leaves 

 become yellow and drop 

 off. When not so numer- 

 ous as to affect the whole 

 leaf the little brown cir- 

 cles sometimes drop out, 

 leaving holes looking as if 

 small shot had been fired 

 through the leaf. On this 

 account the fungus is some- 

 times called the shot-hole fungus. The disease may be 

 prevented by spraying three or four times with the self- 

 boiled lime-sulphur wash. 



Insect Pests 



Many insects attack plum trees occasionally, but one 

 pest must always be taken into consideration — the 

 Plum Curculio. This is a small beetle that occurs 

 practically everywhere that plums are grown and appears 

 practically every season to prey upon the fruit. Occa- 

 sionally a few years will pass when it is so scarce that 

 it does Httle injury and on large plantations it often 

 happens that there are so many more plums than Cur- 



Plum Pockets 



