THE PLUM 



INSECT ENEMIES OF THE FRUIT 



The Plum Curculio is by far the worst insect foe 

 of the plum. It is the cause of most of the common 

 worminess and premature dropping of the fruit. An 

 account of its Hfe-history will be found on page 4. 



Remedies— The evidence in hand indicates that 

 spraying with the arsenites is an effective way to figh: 

 this pest, especially in orchards of considerable size. 

 This remedy acts by destroying the adult beetles 

 rather than the larvae. The trees should be sprayed 

 three or four times, at intervals of ten days or two 

 weeks, beginning, as soon as the blossoms have fallen, 

 with arsenate of lead in good strength or with Paris 

 green mixed with water in the proportion of 3 ounces 

 to 40 to 50 gallons. These sprayings will also destroy 

 certain other insects affecting the fruit, although it is 

 generally supposed that they will not kill the Plum 

 GouGER — an insect related to the curculios — which is 

 very injurious in some of the western states. The best 

 way will probably be to combine arsenate of lead with 

 the Bordeaux mixture as described under the next 

 heading, and so fight both the insect and fungus pests 

 at the same time. This is especially desirable because 

 some of the arsenites alone are liable to injure the 

 foliage when a series of applications are made, though 

 this is not true of the lead arsenate. 



During recent years trouble has been experienced 

 in some localities because of the Fruit-bark Borer, 

 an insect that burrows channels beneath the bark. 

 There is some evidence to show that spraying the 

 trunks and larger branches with the combination of 



