THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



177 



•■appears that the Sucker State has given 

 the largest general satisfaction as a fer- 

 tilizer of the Crescent. The Sharpless, 

 that at one time Was considered the 

 best for the purpose, has lost its repu- 

 tation as a fertilizer. — F. G. Journal. 



)txtxiixixi. 



THE STRAWBERRY WEEVIL. 



BY JAMES FLETCHBR, EXTOMOLOGIST TO THE DEPART- 

 MENT OF AGRICCLTURB. 



I am in receipt of your letter enclos- 

 ing insects for identification. Although 

 the specimens were much crushed in 

 the mail they are easily recognizable as 

 Aiithononius Muscidus, a small weevil 

 wliich has for the last year or two been 

 very troublesome in the United States, 

 attacking strawberries in the same way 

 as you describe. They are reported to 

 be particulai'ly partial to the " Sharp- 

 less." I had not, before the receipt of 

 your letter, heard of the injuries of 

 this insect to strawberries in Canada, 

 although it is a common species upon 

 bushes and low herbage in spring. 

 Another species of the same genus — 

 A. rubidus — I have found very in- 

 jurious to white currants in my gar- 

 den, and it occasionally attacks black 

 ■currants also. This attack, however, 

 differs from the strawberry attack 

 which you have described. When the 

 white currants are injured they tnvn 

 yellow prematurely, and drop from the 

 bunch. The beetle passes all its stages 

 inside the fallen fruit, and emerges in 

 ■the perfect form during the autumn. 

 At least, this was the case with many 

 specimens which I confined for exam- 

 ination last season. 



The only treatment which occurs to 

 ■me as likely to succeed is the use of 

 (preventive remedies, to deter the 

 'insects coming to the strawberrj^ beds 

 ■to oviposit, for I anticipate that each 

 •of the buds, which are bitten off, 

 will be found upon examination to con- 



tain an egg of the insect. As a pre- 

 ventive remedy to protect my currant 

 bushes against A. rubidus, I puffed 

 pyrethrum powder over the bushes 

 twice a week, from the time the flowers 

 opened until they were fully formed. 

 I also sprayed them once with a 

 carbolic wash, and now find the fruit 

 quite sound. 



For strawberry beds, tlie following 

 occur to me as remedies which might 

 be tried : — 



1. A light sprinkling of fresh gas-lime 

 between the rows directly the insects begin 

 to appear. 



2. Spraying the beds either with an emul- 

 sion of coal-oil and soap-suds, or with a car- 

 bolic wash. 



The coal-oil emulsion is probably 

 well-known now to most fruit growers 

 in Canada, but it may be well to repeat 

 hei-e Dr. Riley's formula : — 



Coal-oil, 2 gallons ; rain water, 1 gallon ; 

 common soap, i lb. Or in smaller quantity : 

 Coal-oil, 1 pint ; rain water, J pint; soap, 

 1 oz. 



Dissolve the soap in the water, and add 

 it boiling hot to the coal-oil. Churn the 

 mixture for five or ten minutes by means of 

 a force-pump and spray-nozzle ; or the 

 smaller quantity by placing it in a large 

 bottle, and shaking it violently for the same 

 period. The emulsion, if perfect, forms a 

 cream, which thickens on cooling, and should 

 adhere without olliness to the surface of glass. 

 Dilute before using 1 part of the emulsion 

 with 9 parts of cold water. 



The carbolic wash referred to above 

 is that used so successfully by Prof. 

 A. J. Cook, of the Michigan State 

 Agricultural College, as a preventive 

 remedy to protect radishes from the 

 root maggots of Anthomyian flies, and 

 is as follows : — 



Dissolve 2 quarts of soft soap in 2 gallons 

 of water, to M'hich, when heated to the 

 boiling point, add 1 pint of crude carbolic 

 acid. For iise take one part of this mixtui-e 

 to fifty of water, and spray directly on to 

 the plants. 



One application every week to rad- 

 dish beds I have found to protect them 

 very satisfactorily. 



