TRANSACTIONS OF ALTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 303 



Mr. Hayden — Had some rot near the ground wliere they were very 

 much shaded. 



Capt. Stewart reported small fruits very weedy ; plants look well, 

 but have not rooted yet ; fruit-leaf badly rusted ; Downing the best. 



Dr. Hull reported the absence of crown-borers, while a similar 

 insect had attacked the potato to a dangerous extent. 



Capt. Stewart — Very few borers. 



Mr. Draper — Borers show a preference — they will destroy Col. 

 Cheney, Wilson, Green Prolific, and will not injure Downing. 



The Committee on Flowers reported as follows : 



Your committee find in the borders of our hostess sixteen different 

 varieties of phlox drummondii, ten of petunia, as many of xenias, sev- 

 eral of China pinks, and a lovely bed of mignonette, with other flowers 

 too numerous" to name, which, as a whole, are ablaze with beauty from 

 early summer to late autumn. Also several bouquets on the table, notice- 

 able for varieties and arrangement ; did not learn who the donors were. 



M. A. STEWART,/?;- Committee. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ENTOMOLOGY. 



Every student of entomology realizes the necessity of calling things 

 by their rj^ht names. Every intelligent horticulturist should be a con- 

 stant observer of insect life, and if they are careful observers they may 

 make discoveries of great value touching the natural history of insects 

 injurious as well as beneficial to the fruit grower. If we be ignorant of 

 the proper names of insects, or give them names which are incorrect, or 

 belong properly to other insects, we fail to make the result of any obser- 

 vations useful or truly intelligible to those who look to us for information. 

 We present for your inspection to-day an insect of the grasshopper family, 

 called Katy-did, from its peculiar note. Its body is of a pale green color, 

 the wing-covers being somewhat darker. The musical organs of the 

 male consist of a pair of taborets, formed by their membrane stretched 

 in a strong half-oval frame in the triangular over-topping portions of each 

 wing-cover. This insect should not be confounded with a long-winged 

 green grasshopper, which is not unfrequently seen in our dwellings, while 

 the true Katy-did is seldom seen. We are all familiar with its music. 

 We are not aware that they are especially injurious. Their incessant 

 babble makes them annoying of a summer evening when they are numer- 

 ous. We also present the cicada, which is popularly called " the locust." 

 But what do we mean by it? If we drop the matter here, you will not, 

 can not know what your committee mean by "the locust." Here we 

 have the dog-day harvest-fly or cicada, commonly called "the locust." 

 This insect appears annually soon after harvest, and is familiar to all. It 

 is never numerous or especially injurious. 



