88 SMALL FRUIT CULTURIST. 



not as yet discovered it in my own grounds, or those of 

 my neighbors. It is a small Snout-beetle, a veritable Cur- 

 culio, about an eighth of an inch long and half as broad, 

 and ornamented on the back as shown in 

 figure 29, which is an enlarged portrait 

 of this pest. The grubs of this beetle 

 bore into the crowns of the plants, as 

 its common name indicates, where they 

 destroy the embryo fruit-stalks and 

 leaves. The only remedy proposed is to 

 Fi^.29. STRAWBER- P low U P the infested plantations soon 

 BY CROWN BORER. a fter gathering the fruit in summer, 

 while the grubs are still in the crowns of the plants. 

 The Snail or Slug which is so abundant and destructive 

 to the Strawberry and other garden products in Europe, 

 has found its waj to this country, and is now quite 

 plentiful in some gardens near New York. These snails 

 are great gourmands, and will destroy the fruit in quanti- 

 ties if they become very plentiful. Hand picking, or 

 destroying them with lime, is a pretty sure way of getting 

 rid of this pest. 



The Plant Louse (Aphis), or Green Fly, as it is usually 

 called, sometimes becomes numerous upon the roots of 

 the Strawberry, particularly when the soil is quite loose 

 and open, so as to admit them readily to the roots, upon 

 which they congregate in immense numbers, sucking the 

 juices of the plant, and thereby effectually checking its 

 growth. A liberal application of dry ashes or refuse from 

 a tobacco factory will usually destroy them. The Aphis 

 also attacks the plants grown under glass, but they are 

 more readily destroyed than the Red Spider ( Tetranychus 

 telarius), which insect is often very injurious. 



The best preventive of the ravages of the Red Spider 

 is a moist atmosphere, but when this cannot be allowed, 

 flowers of sulphur should be freely scattered among the 

 plants or upon the soil near them. The fumes of melted 



