Insect and Fungous Enemies of the Strawberry 



And How to Keep Them Down 



THAI' prevention is better than cure 

 nowhere is more emphatically im- 

 pressed than in dealing with the in- 

 sect enemies of the strawberry. And it is 

 a great satisfaction to know that, instead 

 of its being a liopeiess task to keep one's 

 fields rid of these pests, it is a very sim- 

 ple matter, indeed, if you are careful to 

 see that they never are permitted to get a 

 foothold. 



Right now is the time to get to work 

 with your measures for preventing such 

 an undesirable condition. In order that 

 our readers may know these enemies 

 when they see them, we give herewith 

 a description of the particular enemies of 

 the strawberry, and in order that they 

 may know exactly how to 

 go about it to keep them 

 down, we give directions 

 for their prevention or 

 cure. 



The Aphis or Louse 



If black ants are seen 

 working around the plants 

 it is a sure indication that 

 lice are at work down at 

 the lower end of the roots. 

 The lice are carried from 

 the roots of one plant to 

 another by these ants. 

 These aphides multiply 

 very rapidly and will be- 

 come quite troublesome if 

 not looked after in time. 

 'i"he remedy for these lice 

 is this: Before setting the 

 plants dip them into a strong 

 tobacco tea made by boil- 

 ing one pound of tobacco stems in five 

 gallons of water for twenty minutes. 

 The roots should be dipped up to the 

 crown. This will kill the lice if any be 

 present, and requires but a very little 

 time. 



The Strawberry Beetle 



The strawberry beetle is a small dark- 

 colored bug, which like most all other 

 troublesome insects, generally is found in 

 old, neglected strawberry fields. The 

 beetle hibernates under old dead grass 

 and any kind of litter. For this reason 

 the best preventive is clean cultivation 

 and rotation of crops. The beetle feeds 

 upon the leaves while their larva; works 

 on the fibrous roots of the plants. As 

 the beetle is a chewing insect it easily 

 may be controlled by spraying with Paris 

 green. 



The Leaf Roller 



The strawberry leaf-roller is hatched 

 from eggs which are laid in the spring by 

 a reddish brown moth. The larva attains 

 its full growth in June and is brownish or 

 greenish in color. It is nearly one-half 

 inch long and has a shiny yellowish head. 



It folds the leaves by bringing the upper 

 edges together and fastens them by a 

 silken web. There are three or four 

 broods each year. This pest, like nearly 

 all others, may easily be destroyed by 

 burning the entire held over after fruiting 

 time. Spraying with Paris green also 

 will destroy the leaf roller, if the spraying 

 be done before the leaf is folded together; 

 but after the leaf-roller has enclosed itself 

 in the leaf it is difficult to put poison 

 where it will get it. 



The Strawberry Slug 



This insect comes from a four-winged 

 fly which deposits its eggs within the leaf 

 tissues or on the stem. The larva- soon 



SPRAYING IS I HE ONLY EFFECTIVE WAY TO ROUT THE ENEMY 



hatch and feed upon the leaf, gnawing 

 circular holes through it and making it 

 look like a veil. In five or six weeks 

 they develop into a full-grown green 

 worm about three-fourths of an inch 

 long. They seem to have a particular 

 love for young plants previous to fruiting. 

 A good spraying with Paris green or any 

 arsenite solution will destroy them. 

 Burning over after fruit is gathered will 

 help control it. 

 The White Grub 



1 he May beetle or June bug is re- 

 sponsible for the white grub. These in- 

 sects delight in feeding upon plants that 

 have wiry roots, and are most generally 

 found in soil where timothy sod has been 

 growing for years. Old manure piles 

 which have stood for some time are gener- 

 ally the hibernating place for them. 



Inasmuch as the w-hite grub has an 

 underground habit, it is rather difficult to 

 get at them. Just as soon as they attack 

 the root of a strawberry plant, the foliage 

 will wilt, having the appearance of suffer- 

 ing for moisture. About the only rem- 

 edy is to dig down to the roots of the 

 plant upon first sight of this wilting, and 



Patfe 97 



kill the grub. If this is done at once, 

 the plant often can be saved. 



One of the best preventives is to 

 break up your ground in the fall, and 

 let it stand in the rough over winter. 

 This exposes the grubs to freezing and 

 thawing, and also the attacks of birds and 

 other lovers of their carcasses. Hogs, 

 chickens and turkeys will leave corn to 

 eat the grubs, and if your piece of ground 

 is situated so these friends can be turned 

 in, they will rout and scratch a large per 

 centage of the grubs up and devour them. 

 The grub when full grown is nearly one 

 inch long, and about as large through 

 the body as a lead pencil. They are gen- 

 erlly white, with yellowish or brownish 

 head. Rag weeds and 

 foul stufF of any kind af- 

 ord them a hiding place. 

 Here is another reason why 

 \"ou should practice clean 

 cultivation. 



The Sawfly 



The sawfly is a small 

 dull-colored worm about 

 one-fourth inch long. It 

 has the appearance of be- 

 ing coated with mildew or 

 inilkish-colored substance. 

 They most generally put 

 in their first appearance 

 the latter part of May, 

 und are found on the un- 

 lier side or shady part of 

 the leaves, curled up like 

 a snail. Their presence 

 is easily detected as the 

 foliage will be eaten full 

 of holes. The best way to get rid of 

 this pest is by a liberal dose of Paris 

 green. One feed is generally enough. 

 The sawfly is also a lover of raspberry 

 foliage. 



The Strawberry Crown Borer 



This is a troublesome insect if once it 

 gets into a bed of plants. The larva is 

 a white footless grub with a white head. 

 It is one-fifth of an inch long and lives in 

 the crown of the plants. The adult in- 

 sect is a dark-colored snout-beetle, and is 

 one-fifth of an inch long. They can not 

 fly and the only way they can be trans- 

 ferred from one field to another is through 

 affected plants. Avoid setting your beds 

 where old plants have been turned under, 

 and never take plants from an infested 

 field. 



The Strawberry-Crown Miner 



The miner is a caterpillar, small in 

 size and reddish in color, and its habit is 

 to bore the strawberry crown, making ir- 

 regular channels through it in all direc- 

 tions. Early summer finds it full grown, 

 when it passes into a chrysalis state, 

 emerging two or three weeks later as a 



