212 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



which their flat bodies adapt them, are in the axils of the leaf petioles and of the stems of 

 the forming fruit. After the fifth moult, the adult insects appear ; they are quite 

 different in habits from the nymphs, being extremely active and flying away at the 

 slightest disturbance. The winter form which lays the eggs of this first brood, is larger 

 and brighter-coloured than the summer broods, of which there are two or three. 



The eggs of the summer broods are not laid " on the twigs, but on the under sides 

 of the tenderest leaves, among the hairs near the mid rib, or on the petiole near the 

 leaf. Sometimes the female very adroitly places an egg or two in each notch of the 

 toothed edge of the leaf." The summer eggs hatch in eight or ten days. 



Remedies. — As stated above, the Pear-tree Flea-louse hibernates in the perfect 

 state on the trunks of the trees and begins to move about and mate early in the spring. 

 At this time, the insects are not very active, and when it is known that trees are in- 

 fested, many can be destroyed with small expense of labour and material by spraying 

 the trees with Kerosene emulsion. 



This will be more effective if the rough bark is first removed with a hoe or some 

 similar instrument. 



The treatment which is most highly recommended is to spray after most of the 

 young nymphs have hatched. Mr. Slingerland says : "The best time to spray is early 

 in the spring, just after the leaves have expanded. In 1892, about May the 15th, was 

 the best time ; then the first brood of nymphs had all emerged and were exposed in the 

 axils. It was the first brood which did the most harm in 1891. Fruit growers should 

 examine their orchards when the leaves are expanding, and, if the nymphs are numer- 

 ous, the trees should be sprayed at once. A second and even a third spraying may be 

 necessary. The destruction of the nymphs is practicable during a pei'iod of two weeks, 

 about May the 15th. If the spraying is thoroughly done at this time, the pest will be 

 so completely checked as to necessitate but little, if any, further attention during the 

 season." 



The Pear-tree Flea-louse belongs to the same class of insects as the Aphids or plant- 

 lice, with which they form the second section of the Homoptera, known as Dimera, or 

 those with two-jointed feet. In this section we find small insects with antennte longer 

 than the head and, in the winged individuals, four wings, ordinarily all of the same 

 membranous texture. The Psyllidse or flea-lice are small insects found on leaves, and 

 some species, as the Hackberry Flea-louse, give rise to galls. They have long slender 

 antennae terminated by two bristles. The beak is short and tri-articulate, and the eyes 

 are lateral and prominent as in the Cicadce. In fact, these little flea-lice, although sel- 

 dom much more than one line in length, very much resemble Cicadce in miniature. 

 On the front of the face are three ocelli placed in a triangle, the posterior ones quite 

 close to the eyes. Unlike the Aphids or plant-lice, the flea-lice have the power of leap- 

 ing, from which they take their English name. 



THE PEACH BARK-BORER, 



( Pldoeotribus liminaris, Harris.) 



Attack. — Small cylindrical beetles, one-twelfth of an inch in length, of a brownish 

 black colour, covered with short hairs, which bore in the bark of peach ti'ees, and, if 

 numerous, cause the death of the trees in three or four years. The presence of these 

 beetles is easily recognized by the conspicuous red powder, which is the borings cast out 

 of the holes by them in their mining work, and, in the winter and spring, by enormous 

 quantities of gum which oozes from the infested trees, thus greatly reducing their 



Adtality- 



The Peach Bark-borer, although apparently a rare insect in Canada, is a serious 

 pest in one or two orchards in Queenston, Ont. ; I have as yet received myself no 

 authentic record of its occurrence in other districts in Canada, although it is referred to 

 by Dr. Lintner and Mr. Slingerland as having occurred in numbers at Ringwood, Ont. 



