STRAWBERRIES. 193 



The reader can now make a selection of kinds 

 which should give him six weeks of strawberries. 

 At the same time he must be warned that plants 

 growing in a hard, dry, poor soil, and in matted 

 beds, yield their fruit almost together, no matter 

 how many varieties may have been set out. Under 

 such conditions the strawberry season is brief 

 indeed. 



While I was writing this paper the chief enemy 

 of the strawberry came blundering and bumping 

 about my lamp, the May beetle. The larva of 

 this insect, the well-known white grub, has an 

 insatiable appetite for strawberry roots, and in 

 some localities and seasons is very destructive. One 

 year I lost at least one hundred thousand plants 

 by this pest. This beetle does not often lay its 

 egg in well-cultivated ground, and we may reason- 

 ably hope to escape its ravages in a garden. If, 

 when preparing for a bed, many white grubs are 

 found in the soil, I should certainly advise that 

 another locality be chosen. The only remedy is 

 to dig out the larvae and kill them. If you find a 

 plant wilting without apparent cause, you may be 

 sure that a grub is feeding on the roots. The 

 strawberry plant is comparatively free from in- 

 sect enemies and disease, and rarely disappoints 

 any one who gives it a tithe of the attention it 

 deserves. 



13 



