STATE HURTICLLTUKAL SOCIETY. 23 



Mr. Leslie — Yes, four inches when spread on at first. My object 

 in putting on so much mulch is to keep the weeds down between the 

 rows, and to retain the moisture. I prefer straw to any other covering ; 

 prairie grass is good ; leaves not so good, and saw-dust worst of all. 



Mr. Jones — What is the shape of the berry of the Downing? 



Mr. Leslie — It is conical. 



Voice — How long have you been in the business. 



Mr. Leslie — Eight years. 



Mr. Starr (of Jersey county) — The Downing is the best berry for 

 Alton, and takes the lead there ; it excels in quantity and quality of 

 fruit, and sells for more money than the Wilson. 



Mr. WiER — I have the Kentucky and the Charles Downing, but the 

 one I have as the " Downing " is not so productive with me, and it does 

 not answer the description given by Mr. Leslie ; the berry is a large, an- 

 gular berry ; while the Kentucky is more uniform, and the better of the 

 two. Perhaps the names are changed. 



LECTURE ON ENTOMOLOGY. 

 BV PROFESSOR THOMAS. 



The time allotted to discussion having expired, the President intro- 

 duced Professor Cyrus Thomas, State Entomologist, who delivered the 

 following lecture : 



Having but recently entered upon the duties of my office, and hav- 

 ing for several years previous thereto devoted my attention almost exclu- 

 sively to a single order of insects, I come before you ill prepared to pre- 

 sent you with any thing fresh and new from my present field of labor. 



I shall, therefore, talk this evening about those old enemies with 

 which you are all familiar, and with' wliich you have long battled. But 

 do not imagine I have any startling discovery to announce, or any won- 

 derful specific to projjose, for if such should be your expectation you will 

 certainly be disappointed. On the other hand, for me to suppose that 

 stringing together a few general statements in regard to insects will 

 meet your expectations on this occasion, would be doing injustice to your 

 intelligence and general knowledge of tlie subject. 



While I shall not attempt to give you any new facts in regard to these 

 old Enemies, I will try and present you with a plan for utilizing those 

 already known. 



Is it true, that notv/ithstanding the rapid strides in Entomology, the 

 great advance in vegetable physiology, agricultural chemistry and all 

 that relates to agricultural operations and laws, injurious insects appear 

 to be little more under control, jjractically, now than formerly? I tear 

 our answer must be, yes. But why is this so? Why is it that while the 



