10 



ScAMMELL (H.B.). Cranberry Girdler.—Z7.;S.De;)« Agric, Washing- 

 ton, D.G., Bull. no. 554, 21st September 1917, 20 pp., 7 pi. 



Crambus hortuellus, Hiibn. (cranberry girdler) is a P}T:alid tbat 

 has become increasingly injurious in recent years, large areas ot 

 cranberry yines haying been entirely destroyed in New Jersey o\\ing 

 to the laryal habit of feeding concealed in trash under the yines. 

 This moth was originallv described under the name C. topiorius, which 

 was believed to represent the European C. hortuellus in the American 

 fauna. It is widely distributed throughout Europe, the United States 

 and Canada, where its food-plants include grasses, sheep sorrel and 

 the sedge, Scirpus americanus. 



All the injury to the cranberry vines is done during the larval, stage 

 from early June till mid- October, being worst in late summer when 

 the caterpillars are nearly full-grown. They eat through the bark 

 of the runners into the wood or completely girdle the bark, being 

 themselves concealed in the trash beneath the \nnes. This habit 

 distinguishes them from Rhabdopterus picipes, Oliv. (cranberry root- 

 worm), which feeds below the surface of the ground on the small 

 roots and root-hairs. 



The eggs, which are laid in large numbers, are not attached to the 

 plants, but are deposited on the trash beneath, where, owing to their 

 minute size there is little possibility of finding them. The larvae, 

 which emerge after nine or ten days, are rarely found in wet situations 

 and are never found feeding in exposed positions owang to their 

 aversion to light. Late in September or early in October they form 

 cocoons within which they lie dormant until the follo\\'ing spring, 

 when they pupate, the pupal stage lasting about twenty-one days. 

 Larvae in cocoons are able to withstand the usual winter- flooding from 

 December until April or May, or even until July, and pupae have been 

 found alive after submergence for five or six days. 



The most effective control measure is autumn flooding immediately 

 after picking the crop, when this can be done before the end of Septem- 

 ber, at which date the larvae vnW not have spun their cocoons. If 

 the berries cannot be removed in time to permit of this, the next 

 best method is to retain the water over the vines until 20th July, thereby 

 losing one crop of berries, but ensuring a clean bog and the possibility 

 of a much heavier crop the following year. The application of a 

 layer of sand from one to two inches deep, though expensive, is some- 

 times expedient on bogs having peat or mud bottoms, and prevents 

 the emergence of a large proportion of the moths. 



The usual methods of spraying, burning, and using repellents and 

 trap-lights are of' no avail o^\dng to the habits of the larvae, but 

 pruning, the removal of noxious weeds and grasses, and better cultural 

 methods generally, very materially aid in the control of this pest. 



Jarvis (E.). .Experiments in Poisoning Cane-Gmhs. ~ Queensland 

 Agric. Jl., Brisbane, viii, Part 2, August 1917, pp. 81-82. 

 [Eeceived 2nd November 1917.] 



Field experiments with poison-bait for cane-grubs on the lines of 

 pre\nous laboratory experiments [see this Review, ser. A., iv, p. 470] 

 have shown that the application of Paris green in even heavier doses 

 than previously suggested have no injurious effect, but rather the 



