1012. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1137 
THE RASPBERRY CANE-BORER. 
J. W. MBrewerMe .—I have been on 
the lookout for some remarks about a bug 
or borer which destroys the tips of rasp¬ 
berry and blackberry canes, but so far have 
seen none. This pest is to the berry grow¬ 
ers what the cutworm is to the gardener. 
It gets the tender tips when they are four 
or five inches talk and girdles the cane 
twice and then lays one egg between the 
two girdles. This tip dies, then when tbe 
egg hatches the borer first lives on the 
pith of the dead tip, then turns around 
and works down the live cane to the 
crown, where it stays till it emerges, to 
repeat the process. The cane by this time 
is worthless. As this is a serious pest in 
this locality, it is only fair to warn berry 
growers throughout the country to bo on 
the lookout. When you see a dead tip, 
find out what did it; if you sec two girdles, 
cut off just below the lower girdle, then 
take a knife and open between the two 
girdles; look carefully and you will find 
one long yellow egg; destroy it. The 
beetle is black, long and slender, with 
yellow shoulders, small head, with long 
feelers. They take alarm easily and are 
quick on the wing. Be sure you kill him, 
as he tikes to play ’possum. They work 
all the growing season. Will spraying help? 
Ans.— The foregoing letter describes 
this pest so clearly that we have no 
difficulty in recognizing the mischief- 
maker. The parent of the raspberry 
cane-borer is a slender black beetle 
RASPBERRY CANE-BORER. Fig. 470. 
about one-half an inch in length. The 
front part of the thorax just back of 
the head is yellow, and aids in making 
the beetle conspicuous and easily recog¬ 
nizable when seen on raspberries. The 
beetles appear in the early Summer, 
June and July, and begin girdling the 
shoots and depositing their eggs near 
the tips of the canes. The work of the 
beetle is rather unique and interesting. 
If bores a hole in the tender cane and 
deposits at the bottom of it a long, 
slender, whitish, and slightly curved egg 
(Fig 470). Either before or after in¬ 
serting the egg, for we have not been 
fortunate enough to observe the insect 
throughout the whole process, the 
mother beetle goes down the stem and 
with her stout jaws makes a ring or 
girdle all the way around the cane. She 
then makes a similar girdle above the 
egg, so that finally the cane is girdled 
both above and below the egg, the 
girdles being about one-half inch apart 
(Fig. 470. g ). It has been suggested 
that the object of this girdling is to kill 
the cane and prevent the rapidly grow- 
AFFECTED CANES. Fig. 471. 
ing cells from crushing the egg. 
Whether this be true or not it certainly 
serves one useful purpose, namely, to 
make conspicuous to the eye of the 
raspberry grower, the point at which the 
egg is inserted; for it is against the egg 
that our fight is most effectually waged. 
As a result of the double girdling the 
tips of the canes soon wilt and droop 
(Fig. 471). The egg hatches and the 
young larva begins to make a tiny bur¬ 
row in the pith of the cane. 
Our observations during the past two 
years show that the small grub does not 
get very far in its burrow the first sea- 
son. It burrows a little way, grows 
slowly until Fall, and then rests quietly 
in its retreat during the Winter. The 
next Spring it again becomes active and 
bores its way downward until it usually 
reaches the base of the cane by the 
next Fall. Here it passes the second 
Winter, the adult beetle appearing the 
following Spring. The burrows of the 
grub wind from side to side of the 
pith and occasionally penetrate the wood 
of the cane. At intervals of every few 
inches along the length of the cane 
small holes in the bark will be seen. It 
is through these openings that the grubs 
push out their castings and probably 
also obtain a supply of fresh air. Af¬ 
fected canes die, and although they may 
bear fruit it does not ripen, owing to 
the exhausted vitality of the plants. The 
egg is so securely placed within the 
cane that it cannot be reached with any 
insecticide. Likewise, the grub is safely 
intrenched in its burrow where we can¬ 
not get at it. However, the injuries of 
this borer are easily prevented but they 
require prompt and careful attention. 
As soon as the tips of the canes are 
seen to wilt and droop, as shown in Fig. 
470, they should be cut off two or three 
inches below the girdled area. By this 
means the grub will be destroyed before 
it goes down the cane. If the injury 
is not discovered until later in the sea¬ 
son when the whole cane is seen to be 
dying, then the infested canes should be 
cut out and burned. It is neither a 
difficult nor expensive operation to keep 
this borer in check if it is followed up 
and the affected canes cut out every 
season. g. w. herrick. 
THE GRAPE CROP AND MARKETS. 
When it first became apparent that the 
yield for 1912 was to be considerably less 
than 1911, it did not cause so much con¬ 
cern as one would commonly suppose, for 
it has generally been accepted as a fore¬ 
gone conclusion that a short crop would 
mean high prices. There is some basis for 
such a conclusion, as in 1910 the short 
crop netted the grower more than the 
large yield of 1911. But that such is not 
always to be the case is clearly demon¬ 
strated this season. With but 65 per cent 
of last year's crop the prices up till the 
last few days have been but little if any 
better than in 1911. At the present there 
is a much better tone to the market. What 
then, if the supply does not regulate the 
price, fixes it? The past season has been 
a remarkable one in many respects. A 
large crop was harvested in 1911; this 
was followed by a very severe Winter. 
Many vineyards wont into Winter with 
poorly matured wood and buds. The Spring 
of 1912 was cold and wet. Even after 
shoots were several inches long it appeared 
quite likely that they would be affected by 
unseasonable frosts. The wet was followed 
by a period of drought, and vineyards on 
the heavier soils were in no condition to be 
worked and many have not been yet. 
Others were plowed when too wet or too 
dry, and were never harrowed. Then fol¬ 
lowed a 27-day drought. Many vines had 
already succumbed, and thousands of others 
stopped growing and have not made growth 
since. The leaf-hopper added greatly to 
the troubles already mentioned, and thus 
completed a chain of circumstances that 
has made this crop one of the most un¬ 
certain for several years. 
The fruit markets were flooded with Im¬ 
mense quantities of peaches when the early 
varieties of grapes were shipped and the 
prices obtained for Worden, Delaware and 
others were fair indications of what to 
expect for Concords. Then, too, these 
early varieties are usually shipped when 
unfit for eating, and this had had a de¬ 
moralizing effect for the varieties to fol¬ 
low. Notwithstanding, the market for 
Concords opened fairly satisfactory, it was 
not so for many days. Unripe and rotten 
fruit from the West was rushed into East¬ 
ern markets, and the deal became a losing 
one. It requires some time for a market 
to readjust itself once it gets down, but if 
good fruit is forthcoming and only a 
limited crop to draw from, it will surely 
revive. Such is the situation at this time. 
Another big factor in the maintenance 
of fair prices is the grape juice factories. 
It has been very noticeable for several 
seasons that as soon as they begin to re¬ 
ceive grapes and establish prices the mar¬ 
ket as a whole improves. Many thousand 
tons are annually used by them and this 
outlet means that many less for general 
consumption. Also, as the season draws 
to a close, prices rise considerably. Con¬ 
cords in eight-pound baskets have’ sold as 
low as 8% cents this Fall. At this price 
it is a question whether the grower 
wouldn’t be making money by letting 
them remain on the vines, it is the opin¬ 
ion of many that 14 cents pays the grower 
only a fair profit. The trade in 20-pound 
baskets has been more satisfactory this 
year, for the reason that the grapes were 
of the quality that could best be handled 
in this package. The price for 20-pound 
baskets has netted the grower from $26 
to $28 per ton. Some days it has reached 
$30. At this writing one juice factory is 
paying around $35 with the prospect of 
much higher prices. The market up to date 
has been satisfactory generally, except on 
eight-pound baskets, but at this writing 
the market is turning from the 20-pound 
to the eight-pound. This switching from 
one package to another occurs every year, 
and is brought about by the fact that if 
one package or the other is bringing a 
little more,_ all the growers will rush quan¬ 
tities of this particular one to market, with 
the result that the supply is too great for 
the demand; then all swing to the other 
package, and soon the market is again 
glutted. Many growers decide early just 
how much tonnage they will put in each 
package and adhere to that strictly. Of 
course this was hardly possible this year, 
for reasons already stated. If the grower 
of Concords could be assured of $30 per 
ton each year he could realize a fair profit, 
but when they get below $25 in baskets 
there is no money to be made. At this 
rate the grower only gets day wages for his 
labor, investment and risk. 
F. 
Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 
E. GLADWIN. 
Good land alone 
seldom raises the 
best crop and good 
rubber alone can¬ 
not make a good 
rubber boot. 
It takes time, skill, work 
and conscience to make 
both crops and boots worth 
while. 
The first thing we do when 
we make a rubber boot, an 
arctic or a knit boot is to learn 
the farmer’s problems and 
build our boot to fit his needs 
as well as his feet. 
It takes more than good 
-rubber though. Rubber has 
to be treated —hardened for 
the heel, toughened for the 
sole — made stronger where 
your toes work up and down 
—and seams must be tight. 
We believe that “Ball-Band” 
Boots and Arctics are made so 
well that if you figure on the 
cost per day’s wear they give, 
you will find them the lowest 
priced boots you can buy. 
Look for the Red Ball on 
rubber footwear. It’s the 
“ Ball-Band ” trade-mark and 
is put there for your protection, 
to satisfy you that you are 
getting our goods. 
Ball-Band ” Arctics. Four 
buckle and one buckle. In 
cold and wet, when you wear 
good shoes, you will find a 
‘ Ball-Band ” Arctics keep 
your feet and legs warm 
and dry. 
Coon Tail Knit Boot. Com¬ 
pletely shrunk. Boot of 
strong knitted woolen yarn, 
with a shape that stays. 
Wind proof and snow proof 
— note the snow excluder. 
Overs to fit. Keep your feet 
and legs as warm as toast in 
coldest sort of weather. 
After you have worn one pair of 
Ball-Band” boots you will know what 
real quality is. For every cent they 
cost you, you get a full return of wear 
and satisfaction. Over 45,000 dealers 
sell them. Eight million men wear 
them. If your dealer cannot supply 
you—write to us. We will send you 
the name of a nearby dealer who can 
supply you. 
Mishawaka Woolen Mfg. Co. 
Mishawaka, Ind. 
“The House That Pays Millions for Quality" 
