THE CRANBERRY GIRDLER. 19 



emerged per square foot in the unsanded plat as compared with 

 1.61 moths in plat 1, sanded. Plat 3 was known to have a lighter 

 infestation than the others when the experiment was started. 



There were one or two places, particularly around a stump, on 

 the sanded areas where the sand had washed a little thin during the 

 period of winter flowage, but these spots were insignificant in size, 

 and the data presented lead to the conclusion that a 1-inch coat of 

 sand applied under natural bog conditions with a great deal more 

 care than would be given by the average grower is not effectual in 

 preventing the emergence of girdler moths from their cocoons. 



RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTROL. 



The most effective control measure that the writer has seen ap- 

 plied for this insect is the fall flooding immediately after picking 

 the crop, when this operation can be completed in time to apply the 

 water before the last of September. This treatment is effective, be- 

 cause it comes before the worms have spun their cocoons, and a 

 reflow lasting not more than a week is undoubtedly of sufficient 

 duration to kill all naked girdler larvae. 



If the berries can not be removed from the vines in time to per- 

 mit fall flooding before the last of September, or if the water supply 

 is insufficient, the next best method of control is to hold the winter 

 flowage over the vines until July 20, thereby losing one crop of 

 berries, but gaining a clean bog and the possibility of having a crop 

 twice the normal in quantity the following year. 



In the event that the foregoing remedies can not be employed, 

 recourse may be had to sanding and better cultural methods. It is 

 doubtful if a coat of sand less than 1^ inches in thickness can be 

 relied upon to prevent emergence of the girdler moths and, while 

 this is an expensive operation, there are many New Jersey bogs, 

 particularly those having peat or mud bottoms, which would be 

 benefited greatly by a thorough sanding. A 1-inch coat of sand will 

 be found of value for invigorating injured vines and in so far as 

 it covers the trash on the bog floor will render conditions less favor- 

 able for further infestation by the girdlers. If the fruit produced 

 on sanded lands is less sound than it was prior to sanding, this con- 

 dition may be corrected to a large extent by spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture in the proper season. 



Pruning, along with sanding, should be practiced, and these meas- 

 ures, together with the removal of obnoxious weeds and grasses, con- 

 stitute better cultural methods, all of which aid very materially 

 in making cranberry vines healthier and freer from damaging 

 insects. 



