The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-06-18
The Strawberry's Insect Enemies:

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The Strawberry.'s Insect Enemies:
STRAWBERRY plants like plenty of
moisture, and if there have been fire.
quent and plentiful showers during the
growing season, from May till Novem-
Der, the plants of strong growing va
rieties, such as Sharpless and Mon
arch of the West, should measure twelve
to fifteen inches acrOss-prOvided the
ants and other insects have let them
grow in peace.
First on the list of these pests is the
"white grubber," as he is called by
the boys, who hunt for him in rotten
stumps as bait to catch clubs with.
He works just below the surface, eating
through the main stem of the plant,
and killing it entirely. If you should
happen to come along about the time
he has finished that plant. you may
easily find him by stirring the earth with
a stick; but if you are a day too late, he
is off to another, and frequently kills
half dozen or more plants before he is
captured.
AS an illustration of the destructive
ness of these pests. l will give the ex-
perience of neighbor, who, in the
fall of 1878 and spring of 1879, ''lanted
eight acres of Sharpless Seeding plants,
making large calculations on marketing
an immense crop of fruit next June;
but the grubs destroyed one-third at
least of his plants, and the severe
drought of lass summer so crippled
them that he will not gather as much
fruit from his eight acres as he would
from two acres, had all things been
propitious. His 6O,S0O plants he could
have sold last spring for over $1,000, a
great deal more than he can realize from
his fruit this season, after laboring
faithfully all last summer, with three
hands besides himself.
The next pest that we have to con-
tend with here is the ants, and so de-
structive are they in this locality that
some growers think of turning their
attention to other pursuits. They hon
eycomb the ground right under the
plants, eat off the fine roots, and as fast
as new ones are put forth they share
the same fate. and the plants soon lose
their vitality. If the grass and weeds
are allowed to grow among the plants,
they will not suffer so much, as the ants
will work among the weeds as well as
Che strawberry plants; but to grow fine
fruit the ground must be kept clear OF
weeds and runners.
A third pest promises to be more
destructive still. Catawissa has long
been noted for its extra fine berries,
both in size and quality. l had intend
ed that next year should be my last
for growing strawberries in any
quantity, as am getting too old for
the work. I planted 5000 hills in the
fall of 1878 in three different plots, with
the ground well prepared and enriched,
with the determination, if possible. to
produced 5000 quarts of fruit next
season. In one of the patches not a
grub molested plant, and only a few
were mOlested by ants. In another
two-thirds of the plants were very
nearly ruined by ants. In the third. which
produced some fine fruit last June, as
the plants were set the previous August,
there appeared about the time the fruit
was gathered small insect resembling
the grape-thrip, only one-third its size,
or less than One-sixteenth of an inch
long. They are perfectly white. and
keep on the under side of the leaves
that are nearest the ground. The leaves
soon turn black and dry up, and the
ground under the plant gets foul, as if
SCOT had been thrown there. As fast
as the dead leaves were removed, they
would collect on the lowest leaves of
the plant as before. and soon cause their
decay. So numerous were they that
they would fill your eyes and nostrils
full when you were cleaning off the
plants. l gave them a heavy dose of
air-slacked lime, but it did not seem to
destroy any of them, and the plants
were nearly ruined. Before the season
was over, could see some of them on
the other plots on my ground, and on
some of my neighbors' a mile away, and
if they have not been destroyed by the
frost they may do as much damage
this seasOn,-Cor. Examiner and Chroaai-
Gle.