TEE PLUM. 119 



fairly retentive loam will do very well, with 

 proper enriching; but it is necessary to give 

 generous culture, and keep down any growth 

 of grass, especially when the trees are j'oung, 

 in order to give vigor to resist disease. In all 

 cases of neglect, black knot is sure to put in 

 an appearance. The proper distance for plant- 

 ing is from fifteen to twenty feet, according to 

 the growth of the variety ; the Green Gage, e.g., 

 being small, while the Lombard and Imperial 

 Gage are quite in contrast in vigorous growth. 

 As there are many varieties of the plum 

 which are of the highest excellence as a des- 

 sert fruit, and others are valuable for culinary 

 purposes, and as the tree flourishes in soils 

 and sections where the peach is uncertain, it 

 is greatly to be hoped that the recently dis- 

 covered remedies for the rot, the black knot, 

 and the curculio, will prove so effectual as to 

 encourage more general culture of this val- 

 uable fruit. 



i:SSECTS AND DISEASES OF THE PLUM. 



The Plum Curculio {Conotrachelus nenuphce). 

 This is the most serious difficulty in plum cul- 

 ture, and the evil is widespread. The perfect 

 insect is a dark-brown beetle, not more than a 

 fourth of an inch long. Alighting upon a young 



