THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 165 



The Strawberry Crown Moth. 

 The larvte of the crown moth work within the stems near the base or 

 the roots of the host. Sometimes the roots and canes of raspberry and 

 blackberry plants are affected. The adult moth begins to emerge about 

 •April and soon lays its eggs. There is much overlapjMiig of broods, 

 pupa^ often occurring in the summer months. In irrigated districts sub- 

 mersion of infested fields after the crop is harvested offers a solution to 

 the problem. Water .should be left standing for four or five days. 

 Destruction of infested plants is also advocated. 



Cutworms. 



Cutworms are common nuisances in the garden, some cutting off the 

 tender plants at the surface of the ground, others crawling up the 

 stems and eating the leaves. These dark greasy looking worms can be 

 found in the day time an inch or two under the surface of the soil near 

 the destroyed plant ready to emerge again at the return of night fall, 

 and continue their work of destruction. Their control is a difficult 

 problem. IMany will be killed by using a poisoned bait which is placed 

 near affected plants. The bait is compo.sed of one pound of Paris 

 green, 40 or 50 pounds of bran, sweetened with a cheap grade of 

 molasses and mixed with enough water to make a stiff mass. 



Wireworms. 



The wireworms are the larva3 of the click beetles, are cylindrical in 

 shape and have a hard external covering. They do much damage to 

 planted seed and the roots of many species of plants. Of these plants, 

 corn, beans and beets are favorite hosts. Poisoned slices of potatoes or 

 other vegetables buried in the ground or placed under a board near the 

 infested plants will destroy many of them. Green alfalfa treated with 

 strychnine has been used with success. Such salty fertilizers as nitrate 

 of soda or Kainit will render the soil distasteful for a certain time. 



DISEASES OF PLANTS. 



The Blue Mold and the Green Mold of Citrus. 



The blvie and green mold fungi have caused much loss to citrus 

 growers w'ho have persisted in the careless handling of their fruit so 

 that it became injured or bruised, thus furnishing an entrance for the 

 molds. The U. S. Department of Agriculture has demonstrated that 

 careful handling of the fruit in the process of picking, hauling, grading 

 tmd packing will reduce the losses to a minimum. 



Brown Rot. 



This decay fungus appears to be most common on lemons in the pro- 

 cess of storage for curing. Characteristic of this disease is a brown 

 somewhat dry deea3^ of the rind upon which a scanty whitish mold 

 develops. Diseased specimens have a typical odor. During moist 

 weather the fungus sometimes appears on the lower branches of the 

 trees. It lives naturally in the ground beneath trees where its spores 

 are produced. R. E. Smith^ states that orchard infection is prevented 

 by keeping the trees pruned up somewhat from the ground, cultivating 



^Bulletin No. 218, California Exp. Station. 



