150 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub, Doc. 



common on the Cape bogs, but I very much doul)t if it 

 does much harm, for, if it destroys the terminal bud, lateral 

 buds will develop into shoots the next year and give a crop 

 of fruit. 



There are several different species which attack the roots 

 or base of the stems, as the so-called girdle worm, of which 

 there are two entirely different species that girdle the stems 

 near the ground. One is the caterpillar or young stage of 

 a small yellowish moth ( Crambus hortueUus) , which lives in 

 a vertical tube on the ground, which it constructs of bits of 

 vegetable material held together by silk spun by the cater- 

 pillar. They feed mostly by night, coming out of their 

 tubular dwellings and eating the bark near the ground, gird- 

 ling and killing the vines. I have seen this insect flying 

 about over nearly every bog I have visited. Another insect 

 ( Carneades detersa) , belonging to the cutworm family, feeds 

 on the bark, but girdles it in a more irregular manner than 

 the other. Sometimes the army worm attacks the bogs, but 

 the work of this insect occurs only occasionally, and then 

 not over extensive areas. Spittle insects often occur on the 

 vines, and the froth which covers this minute sap-sucking 

 insect makes so much of a show that one might be led to 

 suppose that these spittle insects would ruin the vines ; but 

 if one should remove the froth, and discover how small the 

 insect really is and how little sap it requires for its nourish- 

 ment, he would realize how little damage is being done by 

 these insects. 



I have now treated of the insects most injurious to the 

 cranberry, l)ut the second part of the subject is rather per- 

 plexing, for the reason that the number of insects attacking 

 fruits is legion. From this multitude 1 will first call your 

 attention to some observations that I have made on canker 

 worms, which are so common in various parts of the State. 



Four years ago canker worms began to increase so rap- 

 idly in Amherst that public attention was called to them, 

 and a general account of the species occurring in Massachu- 

 setts was given with illustrations in Bulletin No. 20, jnib- 

 lished in January, 1893. In that bulletin the usual remedies 

 were given. These consisted of tacking bands of heavy pa- 

 per around the trunks of the trees and painting these bauds 



