DISEASES AND PESTS OF PLANTS. 57 



attack is useless. In the case of certain very similar pests, however, beneficial 

 results have been obtained by spraying with a sweetened poison to kill the adult flies 

 and thus prevent egg-laying. The following formula might be tried : Cheap brown 

 sugar or molasses, 3 Ib. ; lead arsenate, 4 oz. ; water, 5 gallons. This must be applied as 

 a fine spray to the foliage at intervals of five to six days, making the first application 

 early in May. (Honey should not be used as the sweetening agent, as it is likely 

 to attract, and thus cause the poisoning of, bees.) 



THE IMPORTED CURRANT-BORER (JEgeria tipuliformis). 



This is a European insect which has spread to all parts of the United States and 

 has recently become a prominent pest in this Province. The adult is a clear-winged 

 moth and is very similar in appearance to the raspberry-root borer, as is also the 

 larva. The moths appear by the first of June and deposit their eggs in the axils 

 of the leaves next the canes. The young caterpillars bore into the pith of the canes. 



Control. The only method of control is to keep the old wood removed and to 

 cut out and burn all affected canes in the fall or early spring. 



THE STRAWBERRY-ROOT WEEVIL (Otiorhynchus ovatus). 



This is the most serious pest the strawberry-grower has to contend with. It 

 is destructive both in the larval and adult stages, the adult injuring principally 

 the foliage and the larva destroying the roots of the plants. The weevil is single- 

 brooded, and the adult beetles may be found alive and active at any time of the year. 

 The insect has numerous host-plants and passes the winter in both the larval and 

 adult stages. 



Control. R. C. Treherne, B.S.A., Dominion Field Officer for British Columbia, 

 who has recently made a thorough study of the control of this pest, gives the follow- 

 ing recommendations : 



Deep ploughing, deep cultivation, application of lime and stable manure, all 

 previous to the year of planting, followed in June, after the crop is removed, by 

 the destruction of the old leaves and stocks, hoeing, hand-weeding, and the 

 application of a complete fertilizer, will be found the most expedient methods 

 suitable to the culture of strawberries in a weevil-infested district. Fall planting 

 can only be adopted in especially heavily infested localities. 



Ploughing up the plantation at the termination of its usefulness is best done 

 immediately the spring crop is removed, especially on small farms of 5 to 10 acres. 

 On large farms, owing to the rapid succession of other crops, ploughing is better 

 delayed until September or October. 



Whatever the size of the farm or prevailing conditions, it is advisable to plough 

 at the end of June, or very early July, or let the ground remain untouched until fall. 



The effect of crop-rotation on large farms is marked, and represents one of the 

 most efficient methods of controlling the depredations of the weevil. On small farms 

 the effect is not so marked. The use of chickens in conjunction with rotation is 

 strongly urged, allowing them free range over the plantation following the summer 

 ploughing. 



CUTWORMS. 



The variegated cutworm (Peridroma saucla) is one of the most destructive that 

 the growers of the Province have to contend with. It is a most cosmopolitan feeder, 

 almost any kind of vegetation being acceptable. Field crops, truck crops, and fruit- 

 trees suffer to a considerable extent every year. In a late spring, when little vegeta- 

 tion is available, they will attack young fruit-trees, eating not only the buds, but 

 also stripping the bark off the tender branches. The life-history is not well known, 

 but undoubtedly two broods occur in British Columbia, the first brood being most 

 prominent during April and early May, the second during the month of August. The 

 adult is a night-flying moth. The winter is passed in the larval, pupal, and adult 

 stages in the ground. 



