ESTEMIES AKD DIFFICULTIES. 71 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ENEMIES AND DIFFICULTIES. 



It has been said that horticultare is a battle with in- 

 sects. The cranberry grower soon learns that his culture, 

 peculiar as it is in mauy respects, is not exempt from in- 

 sect enemies. These are usually the chief obstacles in 

 his path, and frequently bailie his efforts and disappoint 

 his brightest anticipations. To successfully fight the 

 insect enemies of the Cranberry, it is necessary, as with 

 those of other crops, to first learn the habits of the dep- 

 redators, and their mode of attack. Those will be the 

 most successful in rei3elling insects who give to their 

 habits the most intelligent and careful observation. 



Fruit Worm. 



Soon after the hopeful cultivator has established his 

 plantation, and while he is anxiously w^atching its first 

 fruits, he observes some of tlie berries prematurely turn- 

 ing red, shriveling, and, before picking time, entirely dry- 

 ing up. This destruction is caused by the fruit worm. 



This larva bears a striking resemblance to the ordinary 

 apple worm, and, like that, is lazy and sluggish in its 

 habits. We have reason to believe that the perfect 

 insect lays its eggs under the tender skin of the newly- 

 formed berry. This ^^^^ is hatched by heat, and the 

 young grub eats its way into the heart of the fruit, caus- 

 ing certain destruction. It has been asserted by some 

 cultivators that one worm will destroy one berry only ; 

 but this is a mistake ; the same worm w^ill frequently de- 

 stroy at least two. This is fully estal)lished by the fact 

 that two berries may be found with a hole passing di- 

 rectly from one to the other, at the point where they 

 come in contact — one being red, *nd the other fresh and 



