EASPBEEEY. 



147 



With insects the cultivator has a better chance of ob- 

 taining the mastery than with the microscopic fungi^ 

 although with some of the smaller and more numerous 

 species of insects, he has enough to do if they are kept 

 in check. Some kinds infest both the Easpberry and 

 Blackberry, and as it would not be stnmge to find almost 

 any of the species ^Dassing from the plants of one to the 

 other, I shall treat of the enemies of both in this place. 



The common cutworms are sometimes very destructive 

 to the young suckers about the old plants, these pests 

 severing them as they appear above the surface. In old 

 and well-established plantations, the loss of a few hun- 

 dreds or thousands of new shoots will not be missed, for 

 others soon appear from the subterranean stems and roots ; 

 but in newly set plantations, the destruction of the first 

 young shoots frequently causes the roots to die, and re- 

 planting becomes necessary. I have found the catworms 

 a great pest, when setting out Black-cap tips, they ap- 

 pearing to be very fond of the young sprouts, and if left 

 undisturbed will very soon destroy the plants. The only 

 certain method of destruction of cutworms is to search 

 about the hills or plants daily, and crush 

 all that are found. They usually hide 

 just under the surface, and not many 

 inches from the plants they have attack- 

 ed, or are about to prey upon. There 

 are also several leaf-cutting pests which 

 occasionally infest Easpberry plants, but 

 with all these, dusting the plants with 

 lime, ashes, and similar insecticides, will Fi.^. 63.— rasp- 

 usually prove effectual. Among the in- berbt-borer. 

 sects affecting the canes, the common Easpberry-Borer,. oi 

 Eed-necked Buprestis {Agrilus ruficolUs), figure 63, is 

 probably the most injurious, at least in the Western 

 States. It is a small beetle of the form shown in the en- 

 graving, with a red thorax or neck. The larva bores the 



