258 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



island, almost dev^oid of grassy vegetation and supporting only a 

 stunted growth of fir trees. Considering the fact that this island 

 was several hundred yards from the coast line and at all tides en- 

 tirely surrounded by salt water, combined with the fact that the 

 weevil is unable to fly, it becomes increasingly hard to believe that 

 this insect is other than an indigenous species. 



All evidence points to this weevil being primarily a grass- 

 infesting insect, and further that it is more or less uniformly dis- 

 tributed throughout the southern sections of British Columbia. 

 It will attack strawberry plantations when the native vegetation 

 is removed and it has received its name, not because strawberries 

 alone are attacked, but because this fruit offers a suitable form of 

 nourishment to its taste. Strawberries being grown in consolidated 

 areas under a high state of cultivation, naturally suffer to a marked 

 extent. It is useless for growers to consider it advisable to pur- 

 chase plants from non-infested districts, as is so often suggested. 

 The statements made aboxe naturally preclude this form of sug- 

 gestion, apart from any remarks on the egg-laying period in re- 

 lation to transplanting. 



It seems a foregone conclusion that all strawberry plantations- 

 in this part of the world, are doomed to the possibility of infesta- 

 tion despite the efforts of the growers. Much, however, may be 

 done to alleviate the nuisance. The control measures, while given 

 on previous occasions, may well be mentioned again. They are 

 briefly as follows: 



1. Rotation of crops, which includes naturally the growing 

 of strawberries in proportion to the land available on individual 

 farms. 



2. The production of strawberries on the "one" or "two- 

 year cropping plan," which includes the choice of varieties suitable 

 to these plans. 



3. The removal of old or infested plantations by ploughing 

 at the end of the egg-laying period, which ordinarily would mean in 

 September. Such land should be thoroughly cultivated in the 

 autumn and kept devoid of all vegetation during the winter. 



