f adults. In the peach, cherry
and other stone fruits, the injury closely resembles that of the plum.

Although the plum curculio has some natural enemies that tend to reduce
its numbers somewhat, yet they are not important enough to be considered
as effective means of control. Some of these natural enemies are
parasites of various kinds, birds, chickens and the like.

There are several remedial measures practiced, varying in their degree
of effectiveness. Away back in the early days of horticulture in this
country, when the curculio became very abundant rewards were offered for
an effective method of combating it. Several were proposed, but only a
few were at all effective. The best of these methods is what is called
"jarring."

The curculio has the habit of falling to the ground and "playing
'possum" when disturbed. This led to the practice of holding or
spreading sheets beneath the tree and then striking the tree a sudden,
forcible blow with a padded pole or mallet in order to dislodge the
beetles. The trees were jarred daily from the time the calyx or "shuck"
began to slip from the newly set fruit until the beetles had
disappeared, or for at least four or five weeks. This was practiced to
quite an extent, but it takes too much time and is too expensive.

A still better remedy is clean cultivation. Experiments have shown that
as high as 76.75 per cent. of the pupae may be destroyed by means of
thorough cultivation. The mere breaking of the pupal cell, leaving the
earth in contact with the body of the pupa, is fatal to many. Others are
killed by the crushing action of the earth as it is stirred. Others are
exposed to the elements and subject to the attacks of their enemies,
such as ants and birds. Sunlight is quickly fatal to them, and exposure
to the air on a warm day in the shade is also fatal to them.
Observations show that the insect is in the pupal condition in the
ground in from fifty to sixty-five days after the falling of the
blossoms of such fruit as apples and plums. Data have been presented to
show that the minimum time spent in the ground is about twenty days.
Shallow cultivation should begin, therefore, in about eight or nine
weeks after blossoming. It is best to cultivate every week or oftener
for six or seven weeks. It is very necessary that this cultivation
should reach immediately beneath the spread of the limbs, as most of the
curculios are found here, having dropped from the fruit above and
burr