44 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



enclosing plum trees in a hen jard. I believe in that most fully.- 

 We have an orchard of about an eighth of an acre which we have 

 treated in that way successfully. And so far as the curculio is con- 

 cerned it has been a perfect success. The only trouble has been- 

 over-productiveness ; our trees have borne too much. 



Now, while you may be able to provide for the most of your trees' 

 in that way, you may have a choice tree away b}' itself that you can- 

 not conveniently enclose in that way, and you may ask if there is- 

 any other way to combat successfully with the curculio. Well, the old. 

 wa}' of jarring the tree and catching and killing the insects of course 

 is effectual if it is followed thoroughly through the curculio season. 

 But when they have 40 or 50 acres of plums as they do at Seneca 

 Lake and some other points, the aggregate of the expense is large 

 although when you reckon the cost for a single tree it is but little. 

 And there will be certain days when it will be omitted, and the cur- 

 culio do their work very rapidly when they commence. 



There is another remedy which I have a good deal of confidence in' 

 and have tried somewhat, and I think, successfully, and that is, at the 

 season when we expect the curculio, to apply some very offensive 

 wash, drenching every tree. For instance, dissolve a pail or two pails 

 of coal tar in forty gallons of water and let it stand a few days. Of 

 course the liquid will be offensive ; and the curculio, although he is 

 a hateful fellow, is a little fastidious, and a very offensive smell like 

 that of coal lar, is regarded by many as a very sure preventive. I 

 have considerable faith in it. I would not want to absolutely war- 

 rant it, at the same time I have confidence in it. We have used 

 other offensive mixtures, like whale-oil soap, that we have thought 

 efficacious. At all events we have had full crops after doing so. 



But there is a more difficult matter that we have to contend with. 

 I was at a meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture^ 

 where Prof. Maynard of Amherst gave a lecture, and I put this ques- 

 tion to him, hoping that we should get a satisfactory answer. The 

 question was : ''Have you found any absolute prevention or cure for 

 the black knot?" And he said very emphatically, '*No." Well, 

 that is a question I would be willing to travel to Chicago and back 

 again to find a satisfactory solution of, an absolute cure or preven- 

 tive of black knot, of easy application. If there is any such I have 

 not read of it. Cutting off has been recommended. I believe in- 

 that. Our Secretary, Mr. Gold, is a deacon of the Congregation al- 

 ist Church and a strict observer of the Sabbath, but I once heard 



