170 



of moment until 1890, when he lost about a quarter of his crop. On 

 the year following no serious damage was apparent, but in the present 

 year his crop has been all but destroyed. Mr. W. A. Taylor, of tlie 

 Division of Pomology, visited Mr. Walker's jjlace June 1, and at my 

 suggestion kindly made a careful investigation of the injured vines. 

 He places 85 per cent as a conservative estimate on the injury to the 

 " Sharpless " variety. In some "trusses" only a single berry to eleven 

 dead buds were counted. The "Charles Downing" variety on these 

 premises was damaged about 25 per cent and the "Crescent" about 

 15 per cent. 



Mr. Alfred B. Clark reported severe injury to his "Sharpless" ber- 

 ries, and " Crescents " not materially damaged. Mr. Clark further stated 

 that the "Wilson" strawberries of a neighbor of his were nearly as 

 badly damaged as " Sharpless." He had noticed the work of this insect 

 informer years and once or twice it had been as injurious as during the 

 present season. 



A Mr. Jacobs reported his '' Sharpless" so badly cut that he had about 

 decided to plow them up. 



A family by the name of Kirby had suffered the usual amount of 

 damage to "Sharpless" berries; "Kentucky" variety injured in less 

 degree, and other varieties not much troubled. 



A Mr. Crimmins stated that the weevil had " mowed" his " Sharpless" 

 berries, but his "Crescents" had not been injured. 



Mr. Barnum, an extensive grower of small fruits, near Lewinville, 

 also complained that the weevil had taken the largest part of his 

 "Sharpless" berries. 



From Mr. L. S. Abbott I als6 obtained some facts regarding damage 

 in Fairfax County. Mr. W. F. Birch reported his crop of "Sharpless" 

 berries a failure, while '^Manchester" and "Crescent" bore abundant 

 crops. Mr. Frank Birch claimed to have lost his entire crop of " Sharp- 

 less." His vines bore absolutely nothing. 



Mr. H. T. Curtiss, of Ridgely, Carolina County, Md., in correspond- 

 ence with the Division of Pomology, stated that his berries were being 

 destroyed by an insect called the Strawberry Curculio. These insects 

 were particularly severe upon "Monmouth," "Pineapple," "Jessie," 

 and "Candy's Prize," all staminate or ])erfect-flowered varieties. He 

 thinks the "Belmont" more free from attack than any other variety. 



WORK OF THE INSECT. 



Appearance of infested Fields. — The four-acre patch of Mr. Sprankle 

 presented a peculiar appearance when visited during the middle of 

 May. Instead of a field blooming with strawberry blossoms only from 

 one to three flowers, rarely more, and a similar number of ripening 

 berries were to be seen on a single plant, but many new buds were 

 developing unharmed on account of the disappearance of a great pro- 

 portion of the insects. Of the injured buds at this time about half 



