The  common  little  flea-beetle  has  often  caused  great  in-
jury to  my  recently  planted  beds.  I  once  paid  nearly  $100


RASPBERRIES  AND  BLACKBERRIES.  289

for  a  new,  high-priced  variety,  and  before  I  was  aware  of  it
every  plant  had  been  devoured.  They  rarely  injure  large,
folly  matured  plants,  but  are  often  very  destructive  to  those
recently  planted,  especially  if  set  during  the  summer.  You
cannot  catch  them  ;  for,  as  your  hand  approaches  a  leaf  on
which  they  cluster,  they  scatter  with  a  sudden  bound,  and
are  at  once  lost  to  view,  so  nearly  do  they  resemble  the
color  of  the  ground.  Slight  dustings  of  dry  wood-ashes
impede  their  feeding  somewhat ;  but  I  think  we  must  cope
with  this  insect  as  we  do  with  the  Colorado  or  potato  bee-
tle. It  must  be  poisoned.  Paris  green,  of  course,  will  fin-
ish them  speedily,  but  such  a  deadly  poison  must  be  used
with  great  care,  and  if  there  is  any  green  or  ripe  fruit  on
the  vines,  not  used  at  all.  Hellebore,  London  purple,  to-
bacco dust,  may  destroy  them  ;  and  when  little  chickens  can
be  employed,  they  are  a  sure  remedy.
"  Black  eyes,"  or  the  receptacle  turning  black,  is  caused
by  light  frosts,  to  which  the  open  flowers  are  very  suscepti-
ble. If  one's  strawberry  bed  were  in  bloom,  and  there  was
a  prospect  of  a  frosty  night,  I  think  the  blossoms  could  be
saved  by  covering  the  bed  with  four  or  five  inches  of  straw
or  hay,  and  raking  it  off  again  as  soon  as  the  temperature
rose  sufficiently  high  in  the  morning.
Without  doubt,  new  diseases  and  enemies  to  the  straw-
berry will  be  developed  in  the  future,  and  as  they  come
we  must  experiment  till  we  find  some  means  of  mastering
them.
