THE PLUM CURCULIO. 155 
REMEDIAL MEASURES. 
HISTORICAL. 
Measures for the control of the plum curculio have occupied the 
attention of fruit growers from the earliest times, and the total writ- 
ings on this subject in various horticultural, farm, and other journals 
would comprise a very large volume. The curculio, being native, 
soon attacked the choice fruits planted by the pioneer settlers, and 
accounts of its depredations soon found their way to print. The 
insect was especially complained of by reason of its injuries to plums, 
and the culture of this fruit seems to have been attended with the 
greatest difficulty. Many persons, if we are to judge from the earlier 
accounts, gave up the fight in despair, cutting down the trees. Dur- 
ing practically all of the last century a succession of remedies was 
proposed, and much discussion resulted as to their merits. Most of 
them were of but little if any value, and some of those proposed were 
actually absurd. The plan of jarring, or "shaking," as it was gen- 
erally designated, is practically the only one which survived of the 
innumerable ones proposed. The employment of arsenicals against 
the curculio marked a distinct advance, though until recently their 
use on stone fruits had not become very general on account of injury 
to foliage and fruit. 
As indicating the feelings of the early fruit growers toward the 
curculio, and their efforts to circumvent its injuries, several of the 
earlier accounts of the insect are inserted. These articles possess 
distinct historical interest, for in but few instances is it possible 
to follow from so early a date the gradual increase of an insect in 
importance as a pest, along with the increase in plantings of its host 
plants. The remedies proposed were legion, and about as varied as 
the nostrums proposed for some human ailment, as rheumatism. 
While no special effort has been made to list all the early remedial sug- 
gestions, the following have been noted: 
Seaweed under the trees; stable manure spread under trees; thor- 
ough whitewashing of trees; air-slaked lime dusted on trees in early 
morning while wet with dew, after setting of fruit; fumigation with 
sulphur fumes; wood ashes thrown over trees during blossoming 
when wet with dew; sulphur and powder fired from a gun into the 
top of trees for a few successive mornings; sulphur, lard, and Scotch 
snuff mixed and rubbed on trunk and larger brandies; drenching the 
tree with putrid soapsuds, followed by dusting with lime; flowers of 
sulphur sprinkled over trees after setting of fruit; sulphureted hy- 
drogen generated from calcium sulphid; packing the earth under 
the trees; tobacco smudge; hanging in trees putrid flesh, as dead 
mice, etc., to be used by the beetles for ovipositing; burning leather 
