THE PLUM. 



103 



Of an inch long. The head and wing cases are brown with a leaden 

 grey tinge, the latter with whitish and black spots scattered irreg- 

 ularly over their surface. It appears in the spring about the same 

 time as the curculio, and it causes the plums to drop in much the 

 same way as the curculio, but instead of working around the stone 

 it eats through the soft shell and lives within the stone, where it 

 undergoes its changes and emerges a perfect beetle. Both sexes of 

 the plum gouger bore cylindrical holes in the fruit or food. These 

 cause the fruit to become knotty and worthless, but it does not 

 prevent their remaining on the tree until maturity. This insect 

 does not cut a flat or half circle around the hole in which the egg is 

 placed, as is characteristic of the curculio. The remedies recom- 

 mended for the curculio are the best for preventing the work of 

 this insect. 



Aphis, or Lbap Lioe.— These are often abundant upon the 

 native plums. They live upon the under side of the leaves; are 

 generally not observed until they are very abundant, and increase 

 with great rapidity. They resemble very much the apple aphis 

 before described, and the same remedies will be applicable here. 

 It is of the utmost importance that treatment be commenced early. 

 As a rule, if they are abundant during the sun;mer their presence 

 could easily have been detected early in the spring when they were 

 not numerous, and when it would have been but a small matter to 

 destroy them. 



There are a number of other insects that injure the plum, but 

 they have been referred to under the head of insects injurious to 

 the apple. 



