CHAPTER XXXIV 

 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VINEYARDS AND BERRIES 



The small fruits have their insect enemies no less than the or- 

 chard fruits. Grapes, currants, berries, all have a constant 

 struggle against insect pests, and call for our help in no uncer- 

 tain tones. A quarter of a century ago the enormously valu- 

 able vineyards of France seemed to be on the point of total 

 destruction from the insidious attacks of a minute soft-bodied 

 delicate-winged aphid, the grape phylloxera, that carried on 

 most of its deadly work underground and hence was hardly 

 visible to the appalled vineyardists. And later, in the exten- 

 sive vineyards of California a similar tale of destruction began 

 to be told. The French government offered a great reward to 

 any one who should devise an effective remedy for the pest, and 

 scores of entomologists gave their whole time to the study of the 

 life of the insect. Finally it was found that certain American 

 wild grapes had developed a natural resistance or immunity to 

 the attacks of the pest, and grape-growing was revolutionized 

 by the adoption of the practice of grafting the valuable but deli- 

 cate wine grape kinds on to the strong resistant wild roots. As 

 the kind of fruit is determined by the graft and not by the stock 

 this combination has proved the saving of the great vine indus- 

 try of Europe and California. 



Among the other grape pests are several kinds of beetles, the 

 adults of which eat the leaves while their larvae attack the roots, 

 leaf-hoppers which take sap from the leaves and tendrils by 

 means of their sharp little piercing and sucking beak, and the 

 larvae of certain small moths which eat both leaves and the 

 grapes themselves. 



Among the more important enemies of raspberries and black- 

 berries are the active, strong-jawed larvae of certain clear- 

 winged moths (Sesiidte) and certain beetles. These are vari- 

 ously called cane-borers, crown-borers and root-borers because 



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