STRAWBERRIES. 



13 



silken threads and then eats out the soft parts. There are two 

 broods of this insect during the year. The females deposit their 

 eggs on the leaves where they soon hatch, and the worms com- 

 mence their work. The second brood winters over in the pupa state 

 in the ground near the plants. 



Remedy.— The larvae are not easily reached with any insecti- 

 cide as they are nicely protected by the folded leaf. The first 

 brood is rather difficult to destroy without injuring the fruit. 

 Since the second brood does not appear until July they may be de- 

 stroyed by mowing off and burning the foliage of the plants. 

 Where there are but a few infected leaves they should be crushed 

 in the hand, a few trials showing the best method of crushing the 

 worm inside. 



Shading the Strawberry Bed.— Some experiments recent- 

 ly made seem to indicate that the fruitfulness of strawberries may 

 be increased by partially shading them, as shown in Pig. 5. While 

 this might not be practical on a large scale, yet it is so very inex- 

 pensive that it could easily be tried in the home garden. It is sug- 

 gested that such a screen, With a light wind-break near by, would 



Fig. 5. Screen for shading strawberry bed. 

 prevent the pollen being blown away, or the flowers or plants from 

 being seriously injured by frost, drying winds or hail. It will be 

 remembered that generally the best fruit, and certainly the best 

 late fruit of the strawberry, is found in the wild state in somewhat 

 protected and shaded locations, and that in such places the plants 

 are most vigorous and the foliage is seldom diseased. Many ways 

 of making such a screen will suggest themselves to the reader, but 

 it may be well to add that it should be at least six feet from the 

 ground — to allow of a good circulation of air and room to cultivate 

 — and covered with willow or other brush sufficient to keep outjnot 

 more than one-half the sunlight. 



