-6- 



After all traces of the fumigant have left the soil, it is desirable to 

 sow a cover crop for winter cover and green manure. It takes time for this 

 cover crop to get started. 



Since soil fumigation can be done any time the soil is above 50°F and 

 the soil is usually warm enough till mid-October, it may seem a bit early 

 now to be talking about doing it. To do a good thorough job early enough 

 to be followed by a cover crop, requires starting much earlier in the season 

 than most growers have been in the habit of doing. It is not too early to be 

 ordering fumigants and cover crop seed. That plowing and fitting job will 

 need attention soon also. 



J. S. Bailey 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



INSECT TOPICS 



Blueberry Flea Beetle: This pest of wild, low bush blueberries is back 

 with us this season after an absence of nearly 10 years. It will bear close 

 watching in 1960. 



Adult beetles appear in June and July when they feed upon the foliage and 

 deposit eggs singly in the soil litter. These eggs overwinter and begin hatching 

 as the blueberry leaves unfold from the buds. Feeding by the small, dark-colored 

 grubs or larvae continues throughout May with the peak damage occurring about the 

 middle of the month. The larvae cause more damage than the adults. 



DDT dusts applied soon after eggs hatch, while the grubs are still small, 

 has given good control. This means an application to the growing leaves before 

 blossoms open thus preventing damage to bees and fruit set. Use 20 to 30 pounds 

 per acre of a 5Z DDT dust; ferbam may be included for disease control if desired. 

 Some cutworms, span worms and other miscellaneous plant feeders should be killed 

 by the same treatment . 



Strawberry Weevil : This insect has been a pest in the Cape area nearly every 

 season but this year it has appeared in damaging numbers in Hampshire County and 

 perhaps elsewhere. 



The weevil, or "nipper", is a small, black snout beetle which overwinters 

 in trash in or near the strawberry bed and becomes active just about as the 

 buds are separating in the cluster. Eggs are laid in the buds and then the 

 stems are nipped so that the buds fall over, dry up, and eventually drop. The 

 "nipper" is most active when temperatures are 75 F or higher so this 1959 

 season has been especially favorable for them. 



