344 The Spraying of Plants. 



white color, the head being pale brown. When full grown, the 

 larva leaves the plum and descends several inches into the 

 ground. It there pupates, and the mature insect appears in 

 the fall, or sometimes not until the following spring. There is 

 but one brood each year. 



Treatment. Spraying the trees with arsenites has been recom- 

 mended as an effective method of destroying the curculio, but 

 many growers doubt the efficiency of the practice (see pp. 68, 73). 

 The beetles feed some time before laying their eggs, and such 

 applications are designed to kill the adults before the eggs are 

 laid. The first treatment should be made as soon as the first 

 leaves unfold, and before the blossoms open ; the second, when 

 the blossoms have fallen ; the third, about two weeks later. 

 Paris green and lime should be used, each at the rate of one 

 pound to about two hundred gallons of water. 



Another method of destroying the curculio, and a more certain 

 one, is to jar the trees early in the morning before the beetles 

 are active. The insects fall readily from the trees, and may be 

 caught on sheets, or in some of the machines now used for the 

 purpose. When the insects are ordinarily abundant, the trees 

 should be jarred every other morning, beginning the work as 

 soon as the blossoms have fallen. In severe cases the trees 

 must be treated daily, and some growers have repeated the 

 operation again in the evening, as the insects were so numer- 

 ous. Jarring the trees should be continued until the beetles 

 are no longer caught upon the sheets ; in this manner the fruit 

 will be well protected. 



Plum gouger ( Coccotorus scutellaris, Lee.). Description. This 

 insect is found mostly west of the Mississippi River. It is a 

 snout-beetle, and resembles the plum curculio in many respects. 

 It is, however, yellowish-brown in color, and when the egg is 

 laid no crescent mark is made about the point of insertion. 

 The larva burrows into the pit; here it pupates, and late in 

 summer or early fall the adult appears. The winter is passed 

 in this stage, the eggs being laid the following spring at the 

 same time as are those of the plum curculio. 



Treatment. The plum gouger is controlled in the same man- 

 ner as the plum curculio. 



Plum-scale (Lecanium sp.). Description. This scale insect 

 passes the winter in an immature form. The scales are about 



