228 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



a talk on the association at tliat place which has been in successful 

 operation for twenty-one years. Prof. J. R. Cooper gave a brief 

 description of canker, its method of spread and means of controlling 

 it. Mr. C. G. Marshall, secretary of the association gave a talk on 

 the crop outlook for the association orchards and general conditions 

 in the U. S. He stated that in his estimation the fruit crop of the U. 

 S. would not exceed thirty-six million bushels and this was less than 

 the crop of 1912. He thought that growers who have good apples 

 would get good prices. 



After the talks an inspection was made. by the party of a grading 

 machine which was on exhibition. Also Mr. Pollard's cooper shop, 

 where all his barrels are set up, and the packing house, vinegar plant 

 and storage were looked over. The growers present all seemed to 

 have the one idea that cooperation was the salvation of the fruit man 

 and that the standard of Nebraska fruit could be raised so that nothing 

 but the best fruit would be placed on the market. Nebraska grows 

 the finest flavored and best keeping fruit and it is the duty of the 

 grow'ers to grow, pack and market this fruit so that nothing but ^"rst 

 class fruit will be placed on the market. The Eastern Nebraska Fruit 

 Growers Association is an important step in bringing the standard ol 

 Nebraska fruit up to where it ought to be. 



SMALL FRUITS. 



THE GRAPE HOOT WORM IN EASTERN NEBRASKA. 

 3Iyroii H. Swenk, Nebraska Experiment Station. 



During the month of May, 1913, there were many complaints 

 from the owners of vineyards in the vicinity of Omaha that their vines 

 were being badly bored by the apple-twig borer (Schistocaros ham- 

 atus). As these beetles do not usually attack vines until they have 

 been weakened from some other cause, it was deemed desirable to 

 investigate the condition of these infested vineyards.. Accordingly 

 on May 24, in company with Professors E. M. Wilcox and J. R. 

 Cooper, respectively of the agricultural botany and horticulture 

 departments of the experiment station, the writer made a thorough 

 examination of several vineyards near Florence. It was round that 

 in several cases not only was the apple-twig borer present in consid- 

 erable abundance but many vines of all ages were quite dead. An 

 examination of the roots of these dead vines quickly revealed the 

 cause of their condition, for the entire system of fine rootlets had been 

 destroyed and the bark of the roots themselves was extensively bur- 

 rowed and gnawed — typical work of the grape-root worm. Although 

 we had known for years that this insect was present in small numbers 

 in eastern Nebraska, this w^as the first case of serious injury in this 

 state which has come to our notice, and, judging from the severity 

 and extent of the trouble, the insect had apparently been a serious 

 pest in the vineyards about Omaha for several years. Believing that 



