38 



The slag in this selection of materials miust not be mixed with the blood, 

 tankage or guano, as it will cause a loss of ammonia. It will be better, there- 

 fore, to apply the slag by itself, but all the other materials may be mixed before 

 appUcation. 



Diseases and Insects. 



Strawberry plants are not subject to any very serious diseases. 

 The leaf spot may be a partial exception to this statement, but on 

 well-managed fields it is not usually serious. Thorough spraying with 

 Bordeaux mixture is usually recommended for this disease, but good 

 cultivation and liberal feeding will do a great deal more by way of 

 prevention than can be done by any spray solutions. 



WinterkilUng of the plants, especially the roots, is sometimes re- 

 ported from different parts of the State, but this can usually be pre- 

 vented by proper mulching, as explained above. 



The insects most commonly noticed in strawberry fields are the 

 white grub, the crown borer and the leaf roller. The white grub is 

 found the most commonly in raw land not in a good state of cultiva- 

 tion, or such as has been heavily treated with quantities of unrotted 

 barnyard manure. Good soil and thorough cultivation are the best 

 preventives. 



The leaf roller is sometimes quite troublesome, and after it becomes 

 thoroughly established in a plantation there, is no practical remedy 

 for it. If thoroughly sprayed with Paris green or other arsenical 

 poisoning as soon as it appears, its work may be checked. 



The crown borer may be largely circumvented by proper rotations. 

 If new beds are placed beside old infested beds the crown borer is 

 pretty sure to do serious damage. The obvious preventive, therefore, 

 is to plant strawberries on fresh soil, away from old infested beds. 



Varieties. 

 There are hundreds of varieties of strawberries on the market. 

 Every nurseryman has his favorites, and every year sees a number of 

 novelties exploited. An unusually large proportion of these varieties 

 are meritorious. In fact, almost any variety will give good results if 

 well cultivated. It would be impossible within the limits of this paper 

 to give a long list of varieties with descriptions or notes ; it may suffice 

 to say that Glen Mary, Clyde, Dunlap, Bubach, Warfield and Marshall 

 are the kinds most commonly and successfully grown in Massachusetts. 



