The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1922-07-06
FOR STRAW
BERRY ROOT WEEYIL

. ~t4NNHb A|OtulIiAOu cLIOIUOlOkISlt Val
eonYer. b. c., Mr.. Downs has bee
working for several years on the lif
history Of the strawberry root weev
andbis at present one of the Ieadin
authorities on this subject. He write
in part as follows:
Many measures leading toward
control may be thrown out of consider
alton as ineffective, too expensive Q
impractical. Among these may b
mentioned, the application of soil in
secticides. fumigants or chemicals
surface fumigation repellants spray
ing. Experiments with all thes,
methods have been made from time Il
time and the ineffectiveness of sucl
measures has been so we'll demon
strated that it was not considered
worth while to conduct further investi
cations thereon. Two main lines Of
control, however, based upon the lif,
habits of the weevil. have been showr
to be practical. These are cultura
methods (Which includes the ploughIne
of infested fields at the proper time OF
year and rotation of crops), and the
use of weevil-proof barriers,
The first, namely cultural methods,
have been demonstrated without ques-
tion to be the only means whereby land
infested with weeyils can be cleared of
them without injury to the crops or
land and without expense, and the land
subsequently to great extent kept in
good heart. But no cultural methods
will keep land which has been freed
from weevil from being reinfested by
migrations from nearby fields, and
therefore the second method, that of
weevll-proof barriers, is suggested as
an adjunct to the first.
Cultural methods of contFol.-In re-
viewing the life history of the insect,
several points must be drawn attention
to which have a bearing upon the
course of action which he may follow
in combating the pest. Chief among
these is the fact that although many
thousands of eggs are deposited, yet
comparatively few of the larvae re-
sulting from them seem to survive and
are not present, of which conditions
the chief is1an abundant supply of the
right food. Therefore. the removal of
the plants when the larvae are quite
smallSwill, it has been found, result in
their being starved especially if care
IS taken to follow up the ploughing Of
the land with several weeks of careful
cultivation. The method to be, adopted,
when an infested field is to be cleaned
up is as follows: After the berries are
picked the straw may be left on the
ground and the plants untouched until
fall. The object Of this is to induce as
many weevils as possible to deposit
their eggs in the field instead of mi |
grating. Were the plants to be re- |
moved Immediately the crop was there |
would be a general exodus of weevils |
to the nearest PLANTATION. 1t would
even be desirable, if it could be done
at moderate expense to erect barrier
around the field and prevent their es-
cape. The straw provides excellent
cover for the weevils and would be a
furher inducement to them to remain.
Early in September the plants may
be lifted and burned. The field should
then be ploughed and thorough cultiya-
tion. to remove any small strawberry
roots and to keep down weeds, should
be continued at intervals for a month
or six weeks. AS the weeyil does not
cease egg-laying until September it
will not be advisable to plant any crop
until sufficient time has elapsed for
these eggs to hatch and the larvae to
be killed. The land may then be sown
TO some fall crop according to the
scheme of rotation which it is desired
10 follow. Ii has been proved beyond
question during our experiments at
Gordon Head. b. c.. that this plan, if
carried out, will destroy all
- = L.. kL.N L.
been heavily infested on the expert
mental ground was dealt with in the /
above manner and when ploughed '
again in the spring was thoroughly ex- {
lmined for larvae but not one could be [
'ound similar results have been OBJ s
aimed in other fields as well and pri- '
late growers have also found the I
lbove measure most effective. 6
Rotation of crops. = The constant @
ropping Of land by Strawberries can
iot be too strongly condemned. Such U
practice not only exhausts the soil s
'ut is responsible for a tremendous n
Increase and concentration of weevils c
nd other strawberry pests. In gen. t
raj way it may be said that not more a
ban two successive crops of berries Il
hould be taken off before planting a
be land to some other crop. In any +,
lethod of rotation in which strawber.
les are included care must be taken b
pat nOn-host crop such as potatoes il
lould precede.the strawberry crop and fl
hereby insure against the land being 6
lfected before the strawberry plants S!
re set out. IL is manifestly impos- 81
BILE to lay down anv definite rule or *
iggest a scheme of rotation that will II
2 applicable to every farm or section
country. The most that can be said w
that such a scheme of rotation OF
lould be so planned AS to maintain Ut
ie soil fertility and be so arranged bs
lat non-hOst crops pTecede the straw is
erry crops. in
So far as conditions on Vancouver III
land, B. C., are concerned we be- no
I've that the following rotation, which W,
being adopted in our experiments at W,
1rdon Head, B. &C., will prove suitable tri
Vancouver Island conditions, due re- tn
Ird being given to market require of
ents. This rotation, originally sug; tt
sted by Prof. l.. Z. Stevenson of the CO
tney Experimental Station of the de
)minion Experimental Farms Branch, tn
designed to maintain soil fertility an
d at the same time prevent the in
ease of the weevil tai
First year, plant strawberries sec ca
q year, first crop berries; third year, col
,ond crop berries, plough and plant Sa
] wheat; fourth year, fall wheat B.
tn clover; fifth year, clover sod, frc
Inure IL possible; sixth year, pota- rie
s, prepare land for strawberries the Ms
lowing spring.
n the case of new land the rotation use
y commence with strawberries, but yel
n old land potatoes should precede sui
first planting Of awberries. fai
dificstions in the rotation may. have we
be made owing to special circum- Ex
nees but IN no case should strawber- sue
be planted after clover sod on &C. vid
mt Of the risk of introducing the
evil. ,
1pavil-nroof harriero - -EvDarir,artsI