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one of the worst of those examined here, had not only lain without 
mulching during the winter, but was unusually free from matted 
weeds. 
I saw some reason to believe that the difference in the suscepti- 
bility of the different varieties was connected with the time of their 
putting forth their leaves in spring, it being a general rule, as 
far as my observations went, that those which were worst affected 
were the earliest to spring up after the season opened; but with 
respect to this, many more observations are necessary before a con- 
clusion can be reached. 
It has already been said that a certain connection was ap- 
parent, between the number of insects occurring in any field and the 
amount of buttoning of the berries visible; and this is a matter of 
such importance that it will be necessary to go considerably into 
detail with respect to the evidence collected. ‘To test this theory 
of the insect origin of this well-known but hitherto unexplained 
injury, was the main object of my field work during the whole 
period of my stay. 
Everywhere, in the fields of Mr. Earle, at Anna, which I visited, 
I found a close correspondence between the amount of buttoning and 
the number of bugs on the plant. I made many careful compari- 
sons, first estimating and noting the extent of the injury, and then 
with an insect net sweeping back and forth along a row in as 
uniform a manner as possible, making a definite number of strokes 
ppd then counting and recording the number of plant bugs taken in 
the net. 
In a field of Mr. Finch, at Anna, I made a comparison of the 
Crescent and Sharpless varieties, the latter of which was much 
affected, and the former but little. Twenty sweeps of the net in the 
Crescent gave but nine insects, five of which were winged, while the 
same number of sweeps in the Sharpless yielded thirty-two, only five 
of which were winged. The fields were adjoining and had received 
the same treatment throughout. 
In Mr. Endicott’s field, at Villa Ridge, fifty sweeps of the net, in 
a field of “No. 2” which was badly affected, gave sixty-six bugs, of 
which ten were adult, while in the field of Crescents adjoining, 
every third row of which was “No. 2,” but little affected, fifty sweeps 
of the net gave twenty bugs, of which twelve were adults. Some 
rows of badly damaged Sharpless near by yielded twenty-four bugs 
(of which half were adult) to twenty-five sweeps of the net. 
In a field of Crescents belonging to Mr. Davidson, at Villa Ridge, 
(the only field of this variety seen during the trip which was badly 
buttoned), fifty sweeps of the net gave eighty-two of the insects. 
On the other hand, some Downings belonging to Mr. Robinson, 
which were considerably injured, gave only sixty bugs to fifty sweeps, 
and Wilsons, in which, likewise, many of the berries were but- 
toned, gave but seventeen bugs to twenty-five strokes. In these 
two latter cases it seemed clear that the injury to the berries was 
attributable, at least in part, to something else than the insect 
injury. 
ee 
