22 



Insect Pests. 



There are several serious insect pests which affect the cran- 

 berry. The more important are the following: the fruit worm, 

 the flowed bog fireworm (blackhead cranberry worm), the tip 

 worm, the girdler and the dry bog fireworm (yellowhead cran- 

 berry worm). These pests are here named in the order of their 

 apparent importance. The first two are by far the most im- 

 portant. The fruit worm alone has been known, in some 

 seasons, to destroy as much as an estimated third of the entire 

 Cape crop. The only certainly efficient remedy for this insect 

 at present known is late holding of the winter flowage in the 

 spring (to the 20th of May). It is not desirable, however, to 

 practice this late holding every year on account of its effect on 

 the vines, and it is therefore recommended that this flowage be 

 held late every other year as a regular preventive practice 

 against this insect. The flowed bog fireworm never attacks 

 strictly dry bogs seriously, and it may be prevented from 

 developing a serious infestation on any bog with an abundant 

 water supply by means of an annual June reflowage, as already 

 recommended in another place. On large bogs which can be 

 reflowed, but on which the reflowdng is not regularly done on 

 account of the impossibility of handling the water c^uickly, it 

 is probably best to follow the practice of compelling the eggs 

 of the insect to bunch up in their hatching, by holding the 

 winter flowage late (to about the 1st of June), and then reflow- 

 ing about three weeks later. On bogs which are winter flowed, 

 but cannot be reflowed at all, spraying with arsenate of lead 

 is, at present, the only remedy which can be recommended 

 without qualification. 



When very abundant, the last brood of the tip worm can do 

 serious injury by reducing the bud formation from which is 

 produced the crop of the following season. Investigations 

 seem to have indicated that ordinary resanding, if done fre- 

 quently enough, is a satisfactory preventive of trouble from 

 this insect. On this account it is recommended that resanding 

 be done every other year. 



As already indicated, reflowing after picking is a satisfactory 

 method of treating the girdler where water is available. This 



