48 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



unchanged during the winter and constructed its cocoon after the 22nd of 

 May." 



I am sure our much lamented friend must have overlooked one portion of 

 the paragraph to which he refers, which was written with the express intention 

 of removing such an objection as he urges, should it arise. I there stated that 

 on the 22nd of May I was trying s^me experiments in crossing gooseberries — 

 fertilizing the flowers of the Houghton seedling with pollen from some of the 

 English varieties. Anyone who has thought for a moment on this subject will 

 see that to ensure success in hybridization, it is necesary to open the flowers 

 before they are ready to burst of themselves and remove the male organs 

 before the pollen is fuily matured, so as to prevent natural impregnation; and 

 also to avoid another source of danger, that of the carrying of pollen by insects 

 from other flowers and its deposition on the stigma of the flower on which you 

 wish to operate. It is well known by those who have cultivated the goose- 

 berry that the flowers are open before the leaves are fu ly expanded, and that 

 the whole process, from the bursting of the buds to the opening of the flowers, 

 is accomplished in a very short time — usually, I think, within five or six da\s. 

 I believe that all entomologists agree that the ego-s of the saw fly are invariably 

 laid on the under side of the leaves, and usually attached to the larger \eins. 

 On the date before referred to, the 22nd of May, as the flowers were not then 

 open, there would be scarcely a leaf on the bush sufficiently developed to serve 

 the purpose of the female fly as a resting ph>ce for her eggs, and yet nine 

 days after this the cocoon was found attached to the paper bag, and quite firm 

 in its texture, as if it might have placed itself there several days before. From 

 10 to 14 days would probably elapse from the time of depositing the egg to 

 the appearance of the young larva, and two weeks more, at least — perhaps 

 three — would be required to bring it to its full growth. This work of a month 

 or five weeks could not possibly have been crowded into the space of eight 

 days or less, and I think I can scarcely be accused of rashness in forming the 

 conclusion I did, that in this instance the larva must have remained unchanged 

 during the winter, probably under the surface of the ground, then crawled up 

 the bush, attaching itself to the paper bag, and there constructing its cocoon, 

 some time between the 22nd and 30th of May. 



The hemipterous insect Mr. Walsh refers to in the closing paragraph of his 

 paper I have succeeded in rearing. It is not yet determined, but as far as I 

 can learn is distinct from either of the species referred to by myself or Mr. 

 Walsh; as soon as it is correctly determined I shall give its name publicity. 



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