62 
Tomato 
The stalks and fruit of tomatoes have frequently been found in- 
fested each year since 1918. Usually less than 1 per cent of the stalks 
or fruit have been involved in the majority of the fields examined, 
but in some fields during the late summer of 1922 as high as 14 per 
cent of the stalks and 5 per cent of the fruit were found to contain 
the borer. When the stalks were severely attacked early in their 
development, they often collapsed and fruiting was greatly reduced, 
or even prevented. Otherwise the growth of injured plants was not 
appreciably affected. Infested fruits usually were rendered unfit for 
sale. 
Swiss Chakd 
The leaf stalks of Swiss chard were commonly infested by the 
corn borer, and although the injured portions usually were made 
unfit for food, the losses have been of but little commercial im- 
portance, as this plant is grown here mainly as a kitchen-garden 
vegetable. During 1922 an examination of one of the larger garden 
plots of Swiss chard showed that 23 per cent of the leaf stalks were 
injured by the corn borer. 
Dahlias 
Dahlias are the most susceptible of all the flower crops. During 
August and September of 1922 and 1923, 100 per cent of the dahlia 
plants were infested in many of the commercial gardens in the Boston 
area, causing an estimated loss in some instances amounting to 10 
per cent of the crop. Many of these plants were ruined, and the 
susceptibility of dahlia plants to corn-borer injury caused certain 
of the commercial specialists in this flower to abandon its culture. 
The most careful scrutiny has failed to disclose any corn-borer in- 
festation in the dahlia tubers, but all' parts of the plant above ground 
are liable to injury. Egg clusters were commonly found on the 
dahlia blooms, as well as on the leaves, during July and August, 
1922. In three commercial dahlia gardens the proportion of blooms 
bearing egg clusters ranged from 1.4 to 19.8 per cent. 
Asters 
China or garden asters very frequently have been found infested 
in home gardens and commercial establishments throughout the Bos- 
ton area during the period from July to September. Infestation 
reached a maximum of 76 per cent of the plants in small home gar- 
dens, and in one commercial establishment 86 per cent of the plants 
were injured. The normal development of flowers was prevented 
in instances where plants were severely injured at an early stage of 
their growth, and during 1922 many of the flowers, involving in one 
instance 11 per cent of the total, were also entered by borers. The 
estimated loss in the most heavily infested aster plantings ranged 
from 10 to 15 per cent of the total value of the crop. 
Chrysanthemums 
The injury to chrysanthemums (fig. 29) has been confined prin- 
cipally to plants grown under glass for the late fall trade. Infested 
plants have been found each }^ear since 1919 in the majority of the 
greenhouses examined in the New England area. Usually less than 
