Prookkdixgs, l!tl5. 3:1 



(Theu followed a general discussiou regarding the woolly aphis.) 



Question : Have you any remedy to keep strawberry-plants from being 

 destroyed? Sometimes when the plant is in full bearing it dies down, and the 

 heart of the plant turns quite black. 



Mr. Treherne : In our experience with strawberry-plants we find three distinct 

 causes. The first is caused by the dampness of the soil that produces a rot of the 

 root; secondly, of the leaf; this is due to the dampness of the soil, as well as the 

 lack of lime in the soil. The soil around here would stand 2 tons of lime to the 

 acre without doing any damage to it. Then the second cause is oyerproductiou. 

 The spring opens up so moderately that, unless a spring frost comes, we often get 

 an overproduction of fruit, resulting in some dried-up strawberries. If the spring 

 frost comes along and nips off a quarter or half of the blossoms, theu you will have 

 a good crop. Thirdly, yon will find a white grub in the roots. These are the various 

 causes, and I do not know to which one ,vou refer. 



Mr. Day: I will now call on Mr. W. H. Lyne. Assistant Inspector of Fruit 

 Pests, Vancouver, to read bis jiaper on " Remarks on the Life-history of Codling- 

 moth on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia." 



COMMENTS ON SOME PECULIARITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE LIFE- 

 HISTORY OF THE CODLING-MOTH ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 



By W. II. Lyne. Assistant Inspector of Fruft Pests. 



The history of the codling-moth on, the Pacific Coast appears to have beeu a 

 repetition of misunderstandings as to the insect's ability' to acclimatize itself, to the 

 peculiar atmospheric conditions near the sea-coast. Perhaps the first locality to 

 e.xperience its mistake was Santa Cruz County, California, where it was prophesied 

 that on account of the salt air and damp. fog.gy weather that prevailed so much 

 during certain seasons, the codling-moth would not thrive, and if it mana.ged to 

 e.xist at all would never be of any economic importance. 



However, the facts are these : that within ten years from the time of iuceptiou 

 this industrious insect had become the scourge of the apple-growers in that localit.v ; 

 and so it has repeated its history at one point after another in California, Oregon, 

 and Washington, until about five years ago we suddenly a\\"alvened to the fact that, 

 although a few stray specimens were known to have beeu in existence for a few 

 years previous in the Victoria and Saanich District on Vancouver Island, the 

 ri)dling-nioth had finally demonstrated its ability to become just as great a pest 

 and nuisance to the apple and pear growers of Vancouver Island as in many other 

 places. The situation as discovered demanded immediate action on the part of 

 those who were responsible for keeping the pest out of the Province, and it was 

 during the campaign of exterminating this invader that special attention was paid 

 lo many details peculiar to its habits and life-history in general. 



.lust about this time there was considerable discussiou by experts and others 

 in the Western States as to whether the moth could be controlled with one applica- 

 tion of arsenate of lead at the time blossoms were falling, or what is often termed 

 '■ eal,y-x-spraying," the aim being to fill the cal.vx-cup of the fruit, just forming, before 

 it closed, after which the inside cavity is fortified against the attack of the young 

 larva attempting to enter. Those in favour of one spraying appear to have been 

 under the impression that nearly all the larvre of the first brood entered the fruit by 

 way of the calyx or blossom end, and by so doing consumed the poison in the calyx- 

 cup, thus ending their career. 



During the process of searching every tree for wormy fruit, in order to ascertain 

 the amount of infection and destroy all that could be found, a close check was kept 



