854 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



another worm that attacks the leaves of the strawberry, but this is a leaf -roller and the 

 caterpillar of a small, handsome moth (Anchylopera fragarice). 



I have not observed it in my grounds, but it is quite abundant in the Western states, 

 also in Canada, where it is occasionally very destructive. In addition to the above there is a 

 small snout-beetle known as the Strawberry Crown-borer (Tyloderma fragarice), that 

 works in the crowns of the plants, destroying the embryo fruit and stalks and leaves. The 

 remedy proposed is to plow up the strawberry plantations soon after gathering the fruit in 

 the summer, and while the little grubs are still in the crown of the plants. Several other 

 species of noxious insects might be added to the above list of those injuring the small fruits, 

 but I think enough has already been named to show that the berry-growers do not find the 

 business quite so profitable or free from annoyances as many persons seem to imagine.&quot; 



The Blackberry. Some thirteen years ago the cultivators of the blackberry in some 

 sections noticed that the young growing canes in summer would occasionally curl, twist about, 

 and often assume a singular, fasciated form, resulting in an entire check to their growth. 

 The leaves on these infested shoots did not die and fall off, but merely curled up, sometimes 

 assuming a deeper green than the healthy leaves on the same stalk. At the approach of 

 winter, the infested leaves remained firmly attached to the diseased stems, and all through 

 the cold weather, and far into the spring, these leaf-laden and diseased stems were a 

 conspicuous object in many of the blackberry plantations of this State. If the infested 

 shoots are examined in summer, thousands of minute insects of a pale yellow color and 

 covered with a powdery exudation will be found sucking the juices of the succulent stems 

 and leaves, causing the crimping, curh ng, and twisting of these parts as described. 



This parasite resembles somewhat an ordinary green-fly (Aphis) or plant-louse, but 

 according to the observations of Professor Riley it belongs to the closely allied Flea-lice 

 family (Psyllidce), distinguished from the plant-lice by a different veining of the wings, and 

 by the antennae being knobbed at the tip, like those of the butterfly, the knob usually 

 terminating in two bristles. These insects jump as briskly as a flea, from which characteristic 

 they derive their scientific name. They have increased very rapidly during the past half dozen 

 years or more, and unless fruit-growers make a more vigorous fight than they yet have done, 

 they will soon get the mastery of most blackberry plantations. The only practical method yet 

 discovered for checking the ravages of this insect, is, to cut off the ends of the infested canes and 

 burn them. This operation should always be performed either in the morning, or during cool, 

 wet weather, else many of the insects will escape, and at all times the severed shoots should 

 be immediately dropped into bags and in them carried to the place where they are to be 

 burned, and there emptied into the fire. If every one having blackberry bushes in their 

 gardens would practice this method of destruction, this pest would soon cease to do much 

 harm. 



Several species of borers infest the blackberry: the most common one is the larva of a 

 small, slender, red-necked beetle, the Oberea perspicillata of Haldeman. The small, legless 

 grubs bore the pith of the canes, causing them to die prematurely, or so weakening them 

 that they are broken down with the wind. As there are some fourteen or fifteen species of 

 the Oberea now known, it may be that more than one species breed in the blackberry. Thus 

 far, however, I am not aware that they have been very injurious, but it would be well to 

 gather all infested canes and burn them with their contents. The blackberry is subject to 

 the attacks of several species of gall-insects. A fuzzy, prickly gall on the twigs is produced 

 by a four-winged fly (Diastrophus cuscutceformis). Another species of the same genus 

 (Diastrophus nebulosus) produces a large pithy gall on the canes, but both of these 

 gall-makers have very formidable parasitic enemies which keep them in check. There are 

 also a few leaf -eating beetles, slugs, and caterpillars, that sometimes attack the blackberry, 

 but they are seldom sufficiently numerous or injurious to attract much attention. The larger 



