THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 335 



and there riot in fine living. In some fields nearly every ear of corn will be 

 infested with from one to three worms, and upon strippinj;^ down the husks, 

 one or more rows of corn, as shells, mark the path ol the destroyer. Some- 

 times the husks arc perforated on the side, whether for ventilation or entrance 

 or exit is not well known. 



When the caterpillar has attained its full size it descends into the earth and 

 spins a silken cocoon. In about three weeks the moth or perfect insect comes 

 out. It is generally thought by entomologists that the insect passes the winter 

 in the moth state, probably finding a hiding-place and shelter among rubbish, 

 etc. From the habits of this pest it can be seen that any remedy used must be 

 directed toward the destruction of the mature insect or moth. Nothing can be 

 put on the ear of corn that will kill the worm tiiat would not endanger 

 the corn for table use. In fact, the presence of a worm is not known until so 

 much mischief is done as to render the ear worthless. 



The doctor calls attention to the method of destroying the moth by lights 

 and fires in the night, but admits that in so doing many beneficial insects will 

 also be destroyed, and questions how far this process may be practicable. 



PYRETHRUM POWDER. 



The editor of the Kural New Yorker has been continuing his experiments 

 with pyrethrum, and reports as the results for this year that several kinds of 

 caterpillars found on pine and apple trees are destroyed by it, if blown upon 

 them through a bellows. This is a most economical way of distributing it, 

 since a very small quantity may be made to go a long way. A gill, for instance, 

 would suffice for an infested tree ten feet high. If the air is quiet one can 

 force a spray of powder through the bellows to a distance of six feet easily 

 enough, while the powder will prove more effectual than if the insect received 

 it nearer the nozzle of the bellows. 



The smallest quantity blown into the forming heads of cabbages will kill 

 the destructive cabbage worm in from twelve to eighteen hours. The lightest 

 pufis blown in their tents will kill the tent caterpillar in about twelve hours. 

 At first they do not mind it in the least ; then they begin to worry, and in 

 five minutes are in a state of agony or at least of great excitement. In ten 

 minutes they begin to drop to the ground, where in a few hours they will be 

 found dead and dying. 



The price of fresh, pure pyrethrum powder is very high, but used through 

 bellows, a small quantity may be made to do such efiective service that the 

 saving of time renders its use economical. Speed the day that we may grow 

 our own plants and manufacture our own Dalmatian insecticide ! 



■ PROTECTION FROM INSECT ATTACK. 



J. A, Lintner, before the Western New York Horticultural Society, read an 

 elaborate article on the aijove topic. 



He stated that economic writers upon entomology make a distinction between 

 preventive and remedial measures. 



While the preventives that have been proposed are comparatively few, the 



