370 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
and proved to be efficient, provided diligence and pains are taken by tbe 
fruit-grower wben he prepares them. 
The following pests are common to the Plum and Prune in the 
Eastern States of America, where they have proved very destructive. A 
vigorous and efficient system of quarantine has so far prevented their 
introduction to California, and little danger is to be apprehended from 
them. 
Plum Curadis {Coiistrachelus nenuphar). — This pest has been 
known since 1746, and is an indigenous species feeding upon wild stone 
fruits. The damage done by it in the Eastern orchards is too well known 
to require a detailed account. It is also known that the insect has in- 
creased enormously in districts where cultivated varieties of stone fruits 
are grown. Up to the present time the curculis has not been found in 
California, and care should be taken to prevent its introduction, for it 
would utterly ruin the Prune industry. 
Boot Borer {JEgcria existosa). — Trees grown on Peach stock im- 
ported from the Eastern States should be carefully examined, and if 
found infested must be destroyed, for these insects will ruin a tree in a 
very short time. 
Yield. 
The Prune is a prolific bearer, and can be relied on for annual crops. 
Unlike many fruits, it does not take an occasional season's rest, but will 
yield its average return every season. 
If properly cultivated, some fruit may be gathered the third year after 
planting, and the fourth will yield a fairly profitable crop. The fifth 
year a tree will give from 50 to 60 lb., while the sixth year should 
double that. After this, the tree may be considered as in full bearing, 
and will give from 150 to 300 lb. of fresh fruit annually. 
The average yield for Santa Clara County is about 300 lb. a tree. 
In some instances 600 to 800 lb. from a tree are reported, and one six- 
year-old tree in Visalia is credited with 1,102 lb. of fresh fruit in one 
season. 
Picking. 
The Prune is picked when fully ripe, which is indicated when it 
passes from light reddish to purple, and by the slightly withering con- 
dition of the fruit. It is very important that it be thoroughly ripe, or 
else when dried it will be devoid of that rich flavour so essential in a 
marketable fruit. In most places the Prune, upon ripening, has a 
tendency to drop on the ground, and this fruit is collected and dried with 
the rest of the crop. The picking, simple as it may appear, is one of the 
most important matters in Prune-growing. Many of the leading growers 
go over their orchards eight or ten times, gathering only the ripest each 
time. So great care as this may not be quite necessary, but in a great many 
instances sufficient care is not taken in the picking and handling of the 
fruit. People should be kept continually at work in the season, securing 
the ripe fruit. Starting at one end of the orchard, and working it over, 
if it be of any size, it will be time to start from the one end again by the 
time the other end has been reached. This is repeated until the entire 
