658 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Insects injurious to strawberries, J. li. Smith (New Jersey Stas. Bui. 225y 

 Itji. 3-31, ph. 2, //f/v. i)). — The iuitlior (•alls attention to the important part which 

 insects play in the fertilization of the strawberry, and gives notes on the life 

 history, habits, and means of control of injurious insects. 



The strawberry weevil appennul in Cinnberland County in 1S9.3 in sufficient 

 nuniix'rs to attract attention and has each year since caused injury at sonic 

 point in the soutliern counties, the pine barren areas liavinj? been most affected. 

 It has seldom been abundant in the same locality for more than 2 or 3 years; 

 in succession, after which tliere may be a period of equal or greater length 

 during which it does not appear. It is shown that the eggs are deposited in the 

 buds of staminate varieties only, following whicli the weevil crawls down the- 

 stem and punctures it about 5 in. below the bud so that the latter withers and 

 drops to the ground in a few days. Injury is not confined to the strawb(>rry. 

 but as the cultivated varieties are the earliest suitable iilant that appears they 

 are first attacked, and later, dewberries and various l>]ackberries as well as wild 

 strawberries. Tlie injury has often been as high as .50 per cent of the early 

 buds and occasionally higher. The fact that plants sprayed with Bordeau.x 

 mixture and Paris green are less injured than the unsprayed, is attributed to 

 the repellent action of the mixture. Remedial measures suggested include the 

 use of Bordeaux mixture and Paris green (4 lbs. of copper sulphate, 4 lbs. of 

 lime and 50 gal. of water, with 1 11). of Paris green or .5 lbs. of arsenate of lead 

 to every 12.5 gal. of Bordeaux) just before the blossoming begins; the mowing 

 and burning of the vines as soon as picking is over (before July 1) ; or the 

 covering of the rows with muslin or other light fal)ric. It is thouglit that a 

 much better prospect for avoiding injury lies in the selection of pistillate vari- 

 eties for the bulk of the crop, with a profusely flowering staminate variety as 

 a pollenizer. Clean culture is highly important as is the destruction of all wild 

 blackberries and raspberry bushes in the vicinity of strawberry patclies. The 

 author considers it safer not to use a mulch unless the advantages from mulch- 

 ing counterbalance the injury from the weevil attack. The planting of very 

 profusely flowering varieties so that there may be enough to feed the beetles 

 and make a crop as well, and the planting of an early profusely flowering 

 variety as a trap crop and burning this, are also suggested. Catolacciis aiitho- 

 nomi and Sigalijhtis rirffinicnsis were bred in small numbers from the pest. 



The strawberry leaf roller, though distributed throughout the State, is much 

 more abundant south of the red-shale soil, but injurious only on the lighter 

 soils of Burlington and other southern counties. The species, apparently of 

 Euro]>ean origin, occurs at the present time from Canada to Virginia and jn-ob- 

 ably farther south, and westward to the Mississippi Valley. The nutths appear 

 in the fields during M.-iy and deposit eggs upon the lower surface of the leaves, 

 about 70 eggs being deposited by each female. These hatch in fro)n 5 to 7 days. 

 The larvae wander to the upper surface of the leaf as soon as hatched, and, for 

 a day or two, feed openly without protection, gnawing into the vein or along- 

 side so as to weaken the tissue. They then begin to draw the upper surfaces 

 of the leaf or lobe together by means of fine silken threads, to form a shelter, 

 within which they feed, making the fold more secure and sometimes actually 

 making a roll of an entire leaf. The larval stage lasts for about 4 weeks and 

 the pupal for 9 or 10 days, thus requiring a period of from 42 to 50 days for 

 development from egg to imago. There are 3 broods during the year, the third 

 hibernating in the pupal stage. While the first brood, the moths of which 

 appear in the strawberry field during the last days of June and early July, is 

 almost entirely confined to strawberries, the second and third may be more 

 abundant on the blackberry and raspberry, Their injuries on these latter 



