North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kieran or Donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

The article on curculio makes me wonder....if I shake down some of my
curculios and tie them in a cloth bag in a boll weevil trap as the
experimentors used, or if I merely tie the bundle in say, an elm tree, will
I distract some of the remaining beetles away from my peaches?  Doreen,
should I use a "fixative" to help them keep their smell, or maybe crush the
beetles and stir them in some kind of solution to paint on the elms?
    The discussion on moderate spray programs always seem to include Imidan.
One year I made up my mind to put a stop to the curculios.  I gritted my
teeth and went and purchased Imidan.  I commented that I had trouble with
pesticides, and the clerk said he did too, and that Imidan was one of the
worst for him.  The bag is still sitting in the shed, unopened.
    One rainy summer a few years ago I was on a 35 mile commute that I make
once a week  This was the first sunny day after 2 weeks of rain.  There are
2 plant nurseries on the route, spillovers from McMinnville.  I was thinking
hard, writing an article in my head, when suddenly that part of my brain
ceased functioning.  Then I saw a tractor with a spray rig upwind of me.
Though I did not feel at all like I should, I figured it was fairly safe to
merely point the vehicle where I wanted to go till my brain was functional
again.  Then, before I had recovered, the same weird brain whiteout happened
again.   I turned my head in astonishment, and there was the second nursery.
After that it was just too much.  I finally stopped and rummaged in my
backpack, till I found some vitamin C.  My brain cleared instantly.  (These
days I think it was the bioflavenoids and more important, a little bit of
limonene left in the extract that did it)  I have checked, I traveled 6
miles from the first sprayer, at 45 mph, probably 10 minutes elapsed from
the first exposure to the antidote.  During that time I was for all
practical purposes useless.  I was a long way from the first tractor, never
saw the second.  If I had been driving such a tractor, I might have passed
out or down something incredibly stupid.  (There are rumors the high crash
rate during airplane spraying may have to do with the effects of chemicals
on pilots)  In short, Imidan is not an option for me, nor probably any other
chemical sprays.
    Does Neem help with curculio?  Donna


 

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