164 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



apertures which nature has so Avisely 

 ordained for the express purpose. Then 

 why partially cut off its means of sup- 

 ply to gi-atify the whim that fruit must 

 receive the direct rays of the sun 1 



BOOK NOTICES. 



Transactions of the Mississippi 

 Valley Horticultural Society. — 

 This forthcoming volume, advance 

 sheets of which have been kindly fur- 

 nished, will prove one of the most 

 valuable horticultural publications that 

 has ever been given to the American 

 public. It will not only contain reports 

 of the sayings and doings of the society 

 at its meeting in the city of New 

 Orleans, in February last, but will also 

 contain in full the many valuable 

 papers which were read before that 

 meeting. We desire to call attention 

 to the very valuable paper by Professor 

 S. A. Forbes, State Entomologist of 

 Illinois, devoted to the insects injurious 

 to the strawberry, which treats not only 

 of those which are troublesome in the 

 Mississippi Valley, but also of all the 

 insects known to be injurious to that 

 plant. He considers the strawberry 

 worm, Emphytus maculatus, one of the 

 most destructive enemies in localities 

 where it has secured a footing, but not 

 as widespread as the leaf roller and 

 some of the various beetle larvse which 

 injure the root and the crown. He 

 speaks of it as occurring in great num- 

 bers through central and northern 

 Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, and reach- 

 ing as far east as Ontario, Canada. The 

 remedies which he recommends are 

 Paris green or powdered hellebore. 

 The strawberry leaf roller, Anchylopera 

 fragarice, he mentions as another of the 

 most destructive insects of the straw- 

 berry, which at one time threatened to 

 put an end to its culture over very large 

 areas, and probably would have done 

 so, at least for a considerable time, if 



successful remedies had not been dis- 

 covered. These were mowing the field 

 after the strawberries had been picked, 

 and burning it over when tlie leaves 

 have become dry. This process does 

 not hurt the plants, and checks the leaf 

 roller at once, so that in two or three 

 years its depredations become insignifi- 

 cant, if indeed the insect is not wholly 

 exterminated. He also mentions the 

 flea negro bug, Thyreocori sulicariuSj 

 as sometimes very injurious to the 

 strawberry, puncturing the stem with 

 its beak and sucking the sap, thereby 

 causing the blossom to wither. The 

 strawberry crown miner, Anarsia linea- 

 tella, seems to be a recent invader of 

 the strawberry, shewing both the ability 

 and disposition to do serious mischief. 

 He discovered it last September by the 

 roadside in plants which had escaped 

 from cultivation, about 75 per cent, of 

 which were infested with this cater- 

 pillar, which had eaten out the interior 

 of the crown, in a manner similar to 

 the crown borer of Illinois, and equally 

 serious. This caterpillar is about two- 

 fifths of an inch long, reddish pink on 

 the back, fading to dull yellow on the 

 second and third segments ; the head is 

 yellow and each segment has a few shin- 

 ing redish dots arranged in imperfect 

 rows. He says that Mr. Wm. Saunders, 

 of London, Ont., is to be credited with 

 the first public mention of their injuries 

 to this plant. The strawberry crown 

 borer, Tyloderma fragarim. he says, has 

 been known as one of the worst ene- 

 mies of the strawberry for more than 

 fifteen years. It is a shy, sluggish in- 

 sect, rarely seen outside of its burrow, 

 and incapable of flight. He is not 

 aware that this insect has been found 

 injurious except in Illinois and Mis- 

 souri. The only method of subduing 

 it seems to be one as destructive to 

 the plants as to the insect, namely, 

 ploughing up the strawberry field. 

 Enough has been said to show the 



