134 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STA'IKiN. 



weakened, because of the grubs at the root, an-.: they harvester: 

 very poor crops. The beetle has shown itself c;!]);:! le of wiping out 

 the strawberry industry ui the territory in wliiili -t operates. Up 

 to this time we have been powerless to check its ra\ :.ges. 



Fortunately it spreads very slowh" or else is cl':-ely confined ti 

 certain soil conditions. It has been a matter of much interest to us 

 that on the farm adjoining that of Mr. Williams, jus; across the road 

 and an irrigating ditch, strawberries have been gr<n -n very success- 

 fully. On one occasion I entered this field and ft>nii :1 very luxurious 

 foliage and saw the pickers har^•esting a full crop f^f berries, while 

 at the Williams place the crop was destroyed, .-.fter five years' 

 experience with the insect we feel warranted in sayi;-g that it is pro- 

 bable that it is quite definitely confined in restricicl localities and 

 that excessive injury will result only when it is attempted to grov/ 

 strawberries in these localities. In driving up the l'':ter Root valley 

 in the summer of 1902, I stopped by the road and lilected insects. 

 It developed that I was in the midst of a colony of this beetle 

 Masses 01 their dead bodies were to be found und.c:- pieces of bark- 

 en the ground. So far as I was able to leani wo >ne has ever 

 grown strawberries within several miles of this spot. The limits oi 

 this colony were not far oft and beyond the limits no beetles were 

 found. The fact that the species is gregarious in lia'_ ;ls may in part 

 but does not fully, explain this marked tendency II live in limited 

 areas. Further, it may be said that the presence o: the beetle in ;. 

 strawberry field in small numbers is not necessarily a:i indication that 

 it will increase and become injurious. Tliough anc :iave found the 

 beetle in garden patches of strawberries in the city ^f Missoula Ave 

 Lave never had a complaint from that city. 



It is not a usual practice to continue to grow strrr berries on one 

 piece of ground year after year, and though a few specimens may 

 be brought into a bed it is not probable that i1k\' v/di multiply 

 with sufficient rapidity to become seriously injurious before the bee 

 is abandoned. W^e believe that serious injur}- wu] be done onl;; 

 where strawberry beds are planted on fields wIktc the beetles ar- 

 already present in abundance. Literature shows ri o record of ex- 

 tensive injuries from this insect though its possildlites as a pest haAt 

 been mentioned. 



