Show K ti irr lh k tar i t l f PLUM why the fruit palls to the ground when half grown every season in this western country largo numbers of plums are lost by the ault falling to the ground in the halt grown state an examination of this fruit will show that it Is infested with white grubs which eat into the kernel and cause t to drop the work is very similar to the plum curcillo cur cullo which Is such a serious pest in the eastern tates athla insects however Is a native western form and finds ats way into our orchards from the patches of wild plums which grow along ai most every creek it Is a very difficult insect to corn bat because the work Is dona inalda the fruit and poisons cannot bf applied for the larval forms of the in sect the adult insect can sometimes be killed by spraying the plum trees with arsenate of lead or other poisons of a similar nature in the same way that apple trees are sprayed aba adult beetles eat the young leaves 01 cut off the stems of the young fruit and poisons placed in these localities are likely to prove helpful remedies the adult beetles may be caught by jarring the trees the insect plays possum when a limb Is jarred and diopa to the ground it the ground la covered with sheets the insects may be gathered in them and destroyed this Is best dona early in the day and should be continued from the time the plum reea are in blossom until the first of june the insects are reddish brown snout beetles about a quarter of an inch la length they are quite easily lecog and it present some will be found usually each morning A few of the tree will indicate whether or not the insects are nu berous and whether this remedy should be continued probably this remedy Is the most useful one in the home orchard or garden it Is a good plan to permit chickens to run around about the trees since they often pick up the weevils or the larvae that have come to the ground during the summer all plums which fall from the trees and even those which shaw the marks while they are still on the trees should be taken and destroyed by destroying we mean burning or somo other method which will make sure that the insect inside the plum is killed S arthur johnson associate professor of entomology colorado agricultural college |