73 
INJURIES TO VEGETATION. 
The mischief done by the crown-borer is too well known to require 
Ipecial description here. There is usually about one insect to a 
j/own, though occasionally two or three will be found. These finally 
:cavate the whole interior, leaving only the shell or epidermis, 
he growth is of course completely checked, and the plant fre- 
lently dies, and badly infested plantations are speedily ruined, 
single year of the work of the borer is, under ordinary circum- 
ances, enough to destroy the field. It is not unfrequently the 
tse, howevei, that the plant attacked will defend itself by putting 
it a new crown, either from the side or the top of the old one, from 
hich fresh roots strike forth, giving the strawberry a new lease of 
e. This crown, of course, will be invaded in the following season 
r the borer; but the plant, if vigorous, may even form another 
own, and so on, for three or four years successively. Mr. Garman’s 
>servations show that this process has occurred, apparently with 
/tie injury to the strawberry plant, where the rows have been hilled 
), either through accident or design. Even in low places in the 
hid, where the earth has washed down about them, the fresh crowns 
jfe strong and vigorous, and the plants apparently as healthy as if 
ey had not been attacked. Some varieties of the strawberry resist 
e attacks of the borer much better than others; the Wilson being 
le of the readiest to succumb, the Captain Jack and the Crescent 
nong the hardiest. 
r 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
Mr. Garman found two parasitic grubs in the cavity of the crown 
cavated by the borer, each lying in contact with a larva which 
is very feeble, and in fact almost dead. These grubs were unfor- 
i nately lost in transit, and I call only surmise that they were 
| eking the juices of the borer. 
These are the only possible insect enemies of the pest which 
ive yet been observed. 
METHODS OF PREVENTION AND REMEDY. 
When we come to discuss methods of prevention, we see the im- 
irtance of a correct knowledge of the life history of this species. 
These are the questions of practical interest, answers to which the 
/awberry farmer requires: First, can the borer be destroyed in 
e field without sacrificing the plants? Second, when, if at all, can 
ung plants be taken from an infested field, which shall themselves 
free from the borer in any stage, and which can consequently be 
ed m establishing new plantations without fear of transporting the 
i sect ? Third, at what season of the year should infested plants 
I plowed up and destroyed, with a view to exterminating plant and 
j st together ? Fourth, can its spread from one field to another be 
any way prevented? 
First, can the beetle be killed in the field ? There is no longer 
i y question that the adult insect is abroad during the months of 
i igust and September, and also in early spring. As it certainly 
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