88 THE EEPOIJT OF THE Xo. 36 



to strawberries the land being clean and free ironi weevils as tlic potato is one of 

 the crops on which they cannot live. 



Tt is recommended that not more than two crops of strawberries be taken 

 from a field under ordinai'y conditions. It is not only important not to overcrop 

 the land, but leaving the land in strawberries too long allows the weevils to con- 

 centrate there and is inviting disaster. It is also important that judicions appli- 

 cations of barnyard manure be applied to keep the land in good heart. By growing 

 vigorous healthy plants they will be in better condition to stand an attack of 

 weevil and will recover more rapidly. As to the advisability of including clover 

 in the scheme of rotation, we have doubts as to the wisdom of this owing to the 

 danger of maintaining weevil in the land, but Ave know of nothing that will quite 

 take its place unless it can be shown that it is equally profitable to grow peas or 

 vetches or some other legume and still maintain the fertility of the soil. 



The recent light tlirown on the oviposition of the weevil emphasizes the neces- 

 sity of destroying as many adults as possible. It is believed that chickens will 

 prove of the greatest help in this matter and it is suggested that small lots in 

 colony houses should be allowed to run in the plantations. They readily pick up 

 the weevils and the- good they do far outbalances the harm done by scratching 

 among the plants. At blossoming time they may be shut up and allowed to run 

 again after the crop is oft'. The difficulty in closely settled districts of preventing 

 newly set plantations from being re-infested by adjacent old ones is a problem 

 that we are attempting to solve by the aid of wooden barriers with a band of 

 tanglefoot. These have been tried elsewhere and have been found to be partially 

 successful and the results obtained at Gordon Head fully justified us in continuing 

 our experiments. At the present time we have not gone sufficiently far to be able 

 to say that they are commercially ])racticable but we believe they will prove a 

 useful adjunct in weevil control. 



REFERENCES. 



(1) Lovett, A. L. Ore. Agr. Exp. Station, Bi. Hort. Rep., 191,3. 



(2) Treherne, R. C. Dom. Ent. Bui. 18. 



(3) Treherne, R. C. Can. Ent., XLIX., No. 8. 



(4) Feytaud, J. Comptes Rend, des Seances de I'Acad. des Sci., Vol. 165, No. 22. 



Paris. 



THE STKAWBEKKY WEEVIL. 



\V. A. Ross AND C. H. CiitKAx, Dominion Entomological Laboratory, 



ViNELAND Station. 



The following paper is based largely on field observations made in 1918-19 and 

 on preliminary experiments conducted during the jiast season in the Niagara and 

 Oakville districts. 



History and Distuibution in C.vnada. 



The strawberry weevil is a native insect, Avhich. it is believed, bred originally 

 in the buds of the redbud, the wild blackberry and wild strawberry.* 



It has been known as a strawberry pest in Canada at least since 1886. In 

 the Dominion Entomologist's Report for 1890, Mr. W. H. Hale, of Sherbrooke, 



* Slingerland and Crosby, Man. of Fruit Insects, p. 373. 



