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foliage. Little appears to be known as to the damage done 

 by the larva of this species. 



Methods of Control. (1) Prevention. The weevils dealt 

 with in this leaflet are exceedingly difficult to eradicate once 

 they have become established in the nursery or greenhouse, 

 and it is therefore of great importance to prevent them from 

 obtaining a foothold. This is less difficult than in the case of 

 many pests owing to the fact that the weevils cannot fly, and 

 can therefore only reach fresh ground by crawling or by being 

 carried in soil when in the grub stage. 



(a) In the case of land to be used for nursery stock or for 

 such semi-permanent crops as raspberries or strawberries, it 

 is well worth devoting a year to making sure that no weevils 

 are present. There will be little likelihood of this if the land 

 in question has been well farmed arable, but if it has 

 carried fruit, nursery stock, or has been at all weedy and foul, 

 a season should be devoted to getting it thoroughly clean, 

 either by fallowing, followed by mustard ploughed-in in the 

 autumn, or by growing potatoes or roots, the choice to be 

 made according to the state of the land and local circum- 

 stances. If a dry spring permits of thorough working in 

 February., March and April, when the grubs are full-fed and 

 pupating, this will do much to reduce the number of adult 

 weevils which would emerge in May and June. 



Where the land is adjacent to a wood or uncultivated land 

 a common source of infection the intervening ditch should 

 be kept cleaned out (or dug out if necessary) the hedgerow 

 trimmed, and if possible overhanging boughs lopped from the 

 trees at the edge of the wood. 



(&) In the case of greenhouses devoted to growing ferns, 

 primulas, &c., the fresh stock should be watched carefully and 

 if the plants do not thrive the roots of the least healthy should 

 be searched for the white grubs. Ferns, for instance, though 

 full of leaf tend to remain rather yellow when attacked by 

 weevil. Potting soil should also be examined carefully for 

 grubs, and if grub-infested soil has to be used then it should 

 first be sterilised by heat. Before restocking an old green- 

 house the clearing out should be very thorough, particularly 

 as regards soil under the stages and ornamental " rock work " 

 in ferneries which are both often infested by weevil grubs. 



(2) Treatment. (a) In the case of infested nurseries and 

 orchard land already planted, young trees and grafted stock 

 can be protected from the adult weevils by banding as for 

 Winter Moth since the weevils spend the day in the soil and 

 only crawl up at night. Apart from this the only treatment 

 is to catch the weevils at night by shaking them on to tarred 

 trays or boards or on to special trays made for such purposes. 

 Vast numbers of weevils can be caught in this way by a careful 



