THTE 



Vol. III-sE^R^.^s. VOL.1 



NEW YORK, MAY, 1880. 



No. 5. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 



THE HUB PUBLISHING CO. of n. y. 



323 Pearl St., New York. 



THE INSECT ENEMIES AND DISEASES OP OUR 

 SMALL FRUITS. 



[Kctd before the New Jersey State Horticultural Societj', 

 Jan. 16, 1880, by A. S. FuLLEB.] 



\Concluded /rom p. 93.] 



The strawberry. 

 Among the insect enemies of the Straw- 

 berry, the common White Grub is probably 

 one of the most destructive. It is the 

 hnrva of the May-beetle, June-bug, or Dor- 

 [Fig. .%.; 



Stbawbek RY WoKM : — i,Ventral view of pupa ; 2, side view 

 of same ; r^, enlarged sketch of perfect fly, the wings on one 

 side detached ; 4, larva crawling, natural size ; 5, perfect fly, 

 natural size ; 6, larva at rest ; 7, cocoon ; 8, enlarged antenna, 

 showing joints ; 9, enlarged egg (after Riley). 



bug — being known by all these names in 

 different parts of the country. There are 

 over fifty distinct species of May-beetles 

 found in this country north of Mexico, but 

 the one here referred to is our most com- 



mon brown May-beetle, the Lachnostcnia 

 fusca of Frohlich. These beetle.s freciuent 

 meadows, pastures and uncultivated fields, 

 for the purpose of depositing their eggs in 

 places where their young will be sure of 

 plenty of food, and not likely to be disturbed. 

 The young grubs as soon as hatched com- 

 mence feeding upon the roots of various 

 plants, those of the Strawberry and different 

 kinds of grasses being preferred to the 

 weeds. These grubs live three years before 

 passing through the pupa state and coming 

 forth as beetles. During these three years 

 of constant work upon the roots of plants 

 they may do much damage to whatever 

 kind they may attack. Their injury to 

 Strawberry plantations results mainly from 

 bad management and the failure of the 

 grower to use preventive measures. Good 

 old pasture and meadow lands are fre- 

 quently selected for Strawberry plantations, 

 and sod is turned over, and as soon as suf- 

 ficiently rotted, the plants are set out. In 

 the mean time the grubs that were already 

 in the ground, and perhaps of various ages 

 from a few weeks to a year or two, have 

 been fasting, or making an occasional meal 

 of the half-decayed grass roots. Find- 

 ing fresh Strawberry roots thrust before 

 them, they commence a most vigorous at- 

 tack upon such tender food. The planter 

 is astonished to see his Strawberries disap- 

 pear, and wonders where all the grubs 

 could have come from in so short a time. 

 Now in regions where the White Grub 

 abounds it is not safe to set out Strawber- 

 ries on freshly inverted sod ; but the land 

 should be cultivated at least two seasons 

 in some crop requiring frequent hoeing and 

 plowing, before using it for this purpose. 

 Neither should the Strawberry plantation 



