GRAPEVINE ROOT WORM 45 



Pulverizing the soil and mounding. Prof. F. M. Webster, as a 

 result of his studies, advised thorough cultivation of the soil 

 during the hatching period, taking special pains to keep it 

 banked up over the roots. Professor Webster's idea was that 

 the young insects dropping in the dry sand would be quickly 

 destroyed wherever exposed to the sun, that the looseness of the 

 surface layers would prove a serious hindrance to their burrow- 

 ing, and that the increased depth over the roots would also pro- 

 vide an additional barrier to the grubs. Thorough cultivation 

 is undoubtedly a most excellent thing, and the additional vigor 

 arising therefrom is a valuable asset in enabling the vine to 

 withstand very serious injury. Our experiments on the travel- 

 ing and burrowing powers of these little grubs, however, lead 

 us to believe that this measure, so far as preventing access to 

 the roots is concerned, is not of much value. This is confirmed 

 somewhat by the experience of Mr T. S. Clymonts, who states 

 that a seriously injured vineyard can be renewed by thorough 

 cultivation, and that he has experienced no difficulty in doing 

 this with flat cultivation. In fact, Mr Clymonts is of the opinion 

 that mounding the earth about the vines is injurious in other 

 ways and therefore does not advise it. He recommends cutting 

 back the vines to the living wood, enriching the land liberally 

 with stable manure and applying about a barrel of salt to the 

 acre. Then he cultivates with a disk harrow or other tool which 

 will not stir the earth to a great depth, since he believes that 

 deep plowing cuts off a large number of roots and is very 

 injurious to the vines. He states that in several cases known to 

 him where this has been done and flat culture adhered to, badly 

 damaged vineyards have been restored to a very satisfactory 

 condition. 



Carbon bisulfid. Prof. F. M. Webster instituted some rather 

 extensive experiments with carbon bisulfid against this insect, 

 and the summary of his results is as follows. He found that 

 the substance could not be used to advantage in soil that was 

 very dry or saturated with water, and that it must be used in 

 that which is damp. He states that the most satisfactory 

 results will probably follow its use in the spring, in a damp 

 soil, when it is applied in such a manner as to fumigate the 



