480 ANNUA!. RETORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



LEGISLATIION FOR A LICENSE OR TAX ON CATS 



It is well known that aiiionc: the most destructive enemies of the 

 birds in the populous residence districts, and on farms or orchards 

 are house cats, which in many cases are half starved and run wild, are 

 forced to capture birds for their food. If legislative acts can re- 

 sult in jjreventinji^ the forsalduo: of cats along highways, abandoning 

 them when moving, or permitting an increase beyond a desirable 

 number, this will certainly be useful in bird preservation, and is, 

 therefore, to be recommended. All of which is hereby respectfully 

 submitted. 



REPOKT OF ENTOMOLOGIST 



By PROF. FRANKLIN MENGES, York, Pa. 



Insects of every description that usually infested this State con- 

 tinued their depredations during the year 1910, with as much fervor 

 as in any previous year. The San Jose scale and all other scales, the 

 aphides of every description, the potato bug, the cut worm, the loop 

 worm, the wire worm, the cabbage root maggot, the apple and peach 

 tree borers, the codling moth and the clover root borer, all of them 

 and many others have plied their trade of destruction, and in many 

 instances laughed at our poisonous interpositions. These in many 

 instances were accompanied with fungus diseases more deleterious 

 in their effect in many places than the insects. 



The relation of insect and fungus diseases in plant life is so 

 intricate, and in many instances with our present knowledge and 

 with our instruments for observation well nigh beyond our ken. We 

 know that in order that fungi may successfully attack plants, the 

 plant substance must be in a condition to be attacked, and usually 

 climatic and moisture conditions must be favorable for the special 

 fungus to propagate itself. On the other hand when soil and climatic 

 conditions are exactly right for the plant to grow^ and develop and 

 ripen new tissue quickly, this tissue will be suflficiently strong to 

 resist infestation and the infesting bacterium can do little or no 

 damage. But, however salient soil conditions may be and however 

 solubrious climatic conditions they do not prevent insect infestation, 

 and when plants weakened and wounded by insect depredations the 

 parasitic fungus has prepared for itself a wa r in the open wounds of 

 insect attacks into which it can and will plant itself, and together 

 insect and fungi will soon, if not checked, weaken the plant and 

 make it valueless or entirely destroy it. 



The San Jose scale and the bird shot blight are concomitants, and 

 the potato bug and potato blight. In the case of soil conditions and 

 fungus disease, the pear blight seems to be dependent well nigh 

 entirely for its development on soil conditions. But not only do in- 

 sects and fungi act as concomitants, but the insecticides and fungi- 

 cides, the very substances used for the destruction of these enemies 

 of tree and vegetable life, very frequently have deleterious effects. 

 We take it that whatever the compounds of copper, whether as we 

 used to think, it is the hidroxide, or as Prof. Pickering of England 



