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Show Strawberry Growers Preparing To Fight Strawberry Weevil u plant. Commercial control, such as will be given to a number of the fields on Provo Bench, is not practical prac-tical for breeding purposes. The methods of procedure which a number of the growers intend to pursue as soon as the crop is fully harvested seems to be the only way to rid the fields of this pest The tops of ,the plants will be mowed close to the ground with a mowing machine. The fields will then be harrowed both ways with a disc harrow, har-row, cutting the heads of plants open and levelling the fields. Some of the weevil will be killed with the dust The fields will then be allowed to dry A liberal amount, of a prepared poison, consisting of dried ground apiple peeling sweetened and poisoned poison-ed (a patent mixture) will be scattered scatter-ed over the field. The weevil, which is a little maggot or worm about one-eighth of an inch long, when forced to find food, eats the mixture. A carload of this mixture has been shipped in by the growers! of Provo Bench and will be given a fair trial this year. It has been found by growers that If strawberry fields are kept more level the plants do not dry out near the heart and weevil does not work bo readily. Every locality has their problems and it is commendable to see berry growers unite in the best methods of berry growing. voff that the strawberry crop is ,lost harvested the growers have ry difficult problem facing them & the weevil which is attacking the " tg la a number of fields a great Inl of damage has already been L to tie crop'. Although the most evere Injury to leaves and plants is 8 en in tne bearlng season- no inJury !f noticed in the early spring, although al-though the weevil is no doubt there that time. The characteristic toms are more pronounced In plants more than one year old. In the most serious infestations the older plants are dwarfed and produce no marketable fruit. The vounger leaves are also dwarfed, Barr0Wed and of a curious coppery hronze, more rarely a bright reddish; coor. After the crop is har-Tcsted har-Tcsted in mid-summer this copper hronze color: persists on the older leaves, especially at their bases. Many plants are killed outright. Severely affected plants commonly occur in patches, apparently due to 4 plant and all of Its runners having similar infestation. The weevil is rarely found on the older leaves. They move to the younger leaves, and are found in greater numbers between, and within the leaflets ofl leaves yet unfolded. They are also found within the terminal term-inal bud enclosed by the stipules. Runners develop from buds in the leaf axils, and as they appear are Infested with the weevil. Under usual usu-al conditions therefore, runner plants may be expected to have the same infestation as the parent plant. Weevil seems to be more active one time than another. They move from the older to the younger tissues and may he sensitive to strong light. They apparently spread very slowly from row to row. It is known with a certainty that the weevil overwinter over-winter in the field under our climatic conditions. In some instances they overwintered for several seasons, one after the other. The weevil injury has none of the appearance of that caused by the red spider or the leaf or root aphids. Strawberry breeders are menaced I? the weevil far more than the growers. If the later have infested plantings this may be destroyed and clean stock secured, but infestation of the original stock of a new variety is a more serious matter since no eradication measure is known which does not partially endanger the |