INSECTS OF THE STRAWBERRY 193 



while others are very susceptible to it. The best means of 

 control is to select disease resistant varieties so far as pos- 

 sible. Only the most healthy plants should be set and all 

 spotted leaves should be pinched off. A thorough spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture may be given before the flowers 

 open. If the disease becomes quite serious some relief may 

 be had by mowing off the leaves and burning over the bed, 

 which should be done just after the fruiting season. 



Mildew. The mildew of the strawberry is similar to that 

 on any other plant. The disease covers the berries and the 

 leaves with a whitish growth of webby material. It usually 

 causes the leaves to curl up and die. Spraying with Bor- 

 deaux mixture or dusting the plants with flowers of sulphur 

 will usually control the mildew. 



INSECTS OF THE STRAWBERRY. 



Since the strawberry plants are grown for two or three 

 years on the same land, are low growing, and set closely in 

 rows, the control of the insects is based more particularly 

 upon rotation of the crops, clean culture, fall plowing and 

 similar practices rather than on spraying. The one crop 

 method of producing strawberries greatly simplifies the 

 insect problem. There are a number of insects that feed 

 upon the different parts of the strawberry plant, but many of 

 them never become serious and little attention is ever paid 

 to them. 



Strawberry Leaf Roller. The leaf roller is perhaps the most 

 serious insect pest. It is a small greenish-brown caterpillar 

 which folds two halves of the leaf together and feeds within 

 the enclosed leaf. When the insects are abundant the foliage 

 is destroyed, the fruit fails to mature and the plant is greatly 

 weakened. 



The leaf roller can usually be controlled by spraying the 

 plants with arsenate of lead at the rate of 2 pounds to 50 

 gallons of water. The application of the insecticide must be 

 timely and applied within a week after the first appearance 

 of the moths or just before the young caterpillars begin to 

 fold the leaves. 

 13 



