294 ~ 



The Green Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata), locally known as the 

 Rockworm, is of a still more injurious character to the roots of 

 strawberry plants. As a grub it feeds on the roots, while in the 

 perfect state as a beetle it causes considerable injury to the blos- 

 soms by piercing a hole just below the flower buds, causing them 

 to become detached from the parent plant. 



In some districts very considerable damage has been wrought 

 by the maggots of the Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus picipes]. The 

 results of such attacks were especially noticeable in a recent autumn, 

 wlien plants occupying large areas were completely devoid of root 

 growth and with slight exertion could be pulled out of the ground. 

 The author advised several growers who were suffering from the at- 

 tacks of these insects to clear the infested area and dress with gaslime, 

 also stimulating the crops with manurial dressings. On completing 

 inquiries later in the year one prominent grower stated that he 

 pulled up all the infested plants and dressed the ground with 

 gas-lime at the rate of 12 tons per acre. The lime was well in- 

 corporated with the surface soil, and the ground subsequently re- 

 ceived a liberal dressing of slag and kainit before planting in the 

 following year. This treatment was attended with highly satisfactory 

 results. Another grower resolved not to sacrifice all his plants, 

 which were but two years old, and in order to destroy the maggots 

 he dressed the ground between the plants with i ton of slag and 

 kainit per acre; after two weeks the dressing wass supplemented 

 with 50 bushels of fresh soot per acre. At a later stage, when 

 the ground was deeply stirred by hoeing, only a few sickly grubs 

 were to be observed where, before dressing, they existed in enormous 

 numbers. " 



Several plantations have also been infested with the Eel worm, 

 which produces a distorted growth of the stem. As a means of 

 checking the ravages of this pest, dressings of sulphate of ammonia 

 and kainit have proved useful. " Damping off" or mildew is pre- 

 valent in some soils on which the growth of foliage becomes rank, 

 but on the lighter gravelly soils fungoid growths are practically 

 unknown. " 



Strawberry Runner Experiments. National Fruit and Cider 

 Institute, Report, 1908. The Journ. of the Board of Agric., 

 Vol. XVI, No. 12, p. 1024. London, March 1910. 



" Trials of the relative cropping qualities of the 'first' and 'se- 

 cond' runners of strawberry plants were started in 1906. By the 



