20 



REMEDIES. If Bordeaux mixture is used in early spring as a rust pre- 

 ventive, this disease will also be checked. If it appears to an injurious 

 extent when the berries are ripening, flour of sulphur may be used advan- 

 tageously. When this is scattered between the plants, the fumes given off 

 under the action of the sun's rays have a preventive action upon the growth 

 of the fungus. 



INSECT PESTS. 



BLACK VINE WEEVIL (Otiorlii/iicluix xiilcatus Fab.). This beetle is 

 probably the most destructive insect pest, both in its larval and perfect 

 stages, on strawberries that we have in British Columbia. The mature insect 

 is brownish-black, about half an inch in length, with the long snout character- 

 istic of all weevils. The larva is a small white grub which attacks the crown 

 of the roots and so kills the plant. Mr. Thos. Cunningham, Inspector of 

 Fruit Pests, recommends burning off the tops of the plants after the crop has 

 been gathered. This has the effect of destroying the beetles, which shelter 

 themselves amongst the leaves, and which they also attack. Dr. Fletcher 

 says : " The only remedy which can be suggested for this beetle as yet is the 

 planting of strawberries on new ground, and frequent renewal of beds, the 

 worst injuries being done to the old plants." Mr. W. T. Macoun, the Horti- 

 culturist of the Central Experimental Farm, considers the single crop method 

 of growing strawberries the one which pays best, the fruit being finer and 

 the land being kept clean much more easily. Some varieties which do not 

 make runners freely might be left for two years. 



WESTERN TEN-LINED JUNE BUG (Polyi)lujUa dcccinlincata). The larva 

 of this insect, which is a large white grub, is a bad pest on many plants, 

 amongst which are strawberries. In its larval stage it attacks the roots of 

 plants, very soon killing them, by stripping off the bark from the woody plants 

 and biting off the root below the crown of strawberries and such plants. 



DESCRIPTION. The perfect beetle, like its prototype the May Bug or 

 June Bug or Dor Bug of the East (Lachnosterna f-uscu Frohl), has a dis- 

 agreeable habit of coming through open windows and buzzing about, knocking 

 themselves against walls, ceilings and sometimes against one's face, which it 

 strikes with considerable force. The beetle is about one inch and a quarter 

 long, with a thick round body half an inch or more in diameter, of a light 

 brown colour, with eight white longitudinal stripes running the whole length 

 of the wing covers and two short ones ; the breast is covered with a brownish 

 down, and the abdomen has three transverse stripes. The larva is about an 

 inch and a half long, with a thick yellowish-white body and brown head. 



As in the case of the Black Vine Weevil, a frequent change of the beds 

 is to be recommended, as being the most efficacious remedy. It also resembles 

 the last-named insect in its injurious habit, both in the larval and perfect 

 stages. Naturally, on account of the nocturnal feeding habit of the beetle 

 and the underground habits of the larva, it is a difficult insect to control. 

 Referring to the June Bug, Saunders says: 



" It is very difficult to reach the larvae underground with any remedy 

 other than digging for them and destroying them. Hogs are very fond of 

 them, and when turned into places where grubs are abundant will root up the 



