Apple. 255 



against fungi. The foliage of susceptible varieties may be 

 rendered fairly perfect by the arsenite, and in consequence, the 

 vigor of the tree itself will be considerably increased. Its addi- 

 tional value as an insecticide makes it one of the best remedies 

 for destroying orchard pests. 



Stock is frequently pastured in bearing orchards which are in 

 permanent sod, and doubts are often expressed as to the advisa- 

 bility of removing the animals after the trees have been sprayed 

 with arsenical poisons or other materials. Cook 1 has conducted 

 some experiments to test this point, and in no case could 

 he find that horses or sheep were in the least injured. He 

 applied much larger amounts of the poisons than are generally 

 used ; and I have still to hear of the first case in which pastur- 

 ing stock under sprayed trees, whatever the application may 

 have been, has been followed by bad results. When one con- 

 siders how small is the amount of poison used per tree, the 

 small percentage of it that falls to the ground, and how little 

 of this adheres to those parts of the herbage that are eaten, it 

 will be seen that there is practically no danger to the stock. 



Curculio (Aiitkonomus quadrif/ibbus, Say). Description. As 

 the name of this insect indicates, it possesses four projections, 

 these being found on the back at the posterior end of the body. 

 They are nearly conical in form and of a brownish-red color. 

 The general appearance of the insect is brown, but a shade of 

 red may also be noticed. Although it is closely related to the 

 plum curculio, its body is slightly smaller and the snout longer ; 

 the entire length is about one-quarter of an inch. Its habits 

 are also in some respects different. In laying its eggs no 

 crescent-shaped mark is made, but a hole, somewhat enlarged 

 at the 'bottom, is bored into the small apple, and the egg is 

 there deposited. 2 The .apple grows more slowly in the 

 affected portions, which results in its becoming misshapen, and 

 if the fruit is stung several times it will be worthless on account 

 of its small size and irregular form. Fig. 45 represents apples 

 which were injured by this insect and also by the plum curculio, 

 another serious enemy of the apple. 



Treatment. The apple curculio rarely does much damage in 

 the North, but in some of the middle states it is occasionally 

 very destructive. The most promising remedy is to spray the 



1 See page 233. 2 Gillette, Iowa, Exp. Sta. Bull. 11, 498. 



