The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1925-09-10
FIND WAY TO FIGHT
STRAWBERRY PEST
Method of Killing Root Weevil
Proves Success in Lynden
District Fields

that has caused thousands of dollars
worth of damage in the Lynden dis
trict, and turnout other sections of
the Northwest.
H. B. Carroll, Jr., county agricul-
tural agent, today sent out the fol-
lowing bulletin prepared by Arthur
Frank, plant pathologist of the West
ern Washington Experiment Station
at Puyallup:
During the past twenty-five years
strawberry growing in western
Washington and also the western
part of Oregon and British Columbia
has been hindered by the activities of
the insect pest known as the straw
berry root weevil. This pest works
on the roots of the plants in the
form of a small white grub and these
grubs eat off the small roots. When
the insects are sufficient in numbers
they will kill the plants A field be-
comes infested to some extent the
first year and the insects usually in
crease in numbers during the second
year until the third year they en-
tirely destroy the field. Each season
the pest has spread until it is now
common thruout the state and it does
immense damage by destroying a
large acreage.
The pest develops on the roots in
the form of grub. The eggs trans
form into beetles during the latter
part Of the harvest season and then
the new beetles lay eggs in the soil
under the plants. The eggs hatch in
new grubs and these start work on
the plants. They lie inactive during
the winter but resume work in the
spring.
During the past twenty years or
SO, much work has been done towards
developing a remedy for this pest.
Owing to the fact that the injurious
stage of the pest is active UNDER
grond, satisfactory measures have
proven difficult. Many devices and
many chemicals have been tried. The
only thing that has been of any val
ue up to the present time has been
the use of rotation system; the
use of quick acting fertilizers in the
spring on a badly infested field, which
only slaves off the end for while
(the effect is to produce new roots
quickly to replace those eaten off by
the worms;) and the use of an oil
or tanglefoot barrier about the fields.
While the barrier is very effective
method of keeping the beetles from
entering newly planted field and
will keep them out of the field if the
barrier is properly maintained it has
not come into general use on account
of the cost of installing and looking
after it. No other remedy of any
value has been toffered until this
season.
This season, M. ]. Forsell, of Sc
attic has perfected poison bait,
which when put on the strawberry
plants in the summer will attract the
beetles and induce them to feed and
will kill them. Mr.. Forsell has beer
working on this problem for about
four years. He first conceived the
idea of bait material and then be-
gan a search for some material the
beetles would feed on.
Normally, the beetles do very little
feeding. After discovering such a
substance he then tried various poi
son until he found one that the in
sects would take invariably and that
would kill them In addition, Mr.. For
sell, found that in the case of this
weevil, as is often the case with this
clase of insects, that the sense of
smell is strongly developed. He ex-
perimented with an attractant chem
ical to add to the bait and found one
which serves the purpose well.
Trials of the bait during the past
TWO seasons gave very excellent re-
suits but Mr.. Forsell decided to try
the bait this season yet before put
ting it on the market. This season
trials were made at the Western
Washington Experiment station and 1t
other points thru the Puyallup val,
ley. The bait was placed on the
crowns of infested strawberry plants.
A few days later counts showed the
beetles were all killed. These tests
were made and the counts were made
by entomologists or the Western
Washington Experiment. station and
also of the main Experiment station
at Pullman.
The method of applying the bait
is to throw about half q tablespoon
full into the crown of each plant.
This takes from Is to 100 pounds per
acre. In a very few days time the
beetles that are in the field are all
dead. The cost of the use of this
method Of destroying the weevil will