EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 321 



A four week's course of lectures on Fertilizers was given by the writer 

 to the short course students in General Agriculture. 



Respectfully submitted, 



ANDREW J. PATTEN, 



Chemist. 

 East Lansing, Mich., June 30, 1017. 



REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Director R. S. Shaw: 



Dear Sir — Following is a brief report of the work of the Division of 

 Entomology for the year ending June 30, 1917. 



The year just passed has brought to us more than the ordinary num- 

 ber of problems, the season of 1917 opening with rains and cold weather, 

 continuing up to the present moment almost without intermission. 

 These conditions have been favorable to a number of insect pests, which 

 have succeeded in doing quite a bit of damage. 



I'lant lice have been plentiful on almost everything, fruits of all kinds 

 suffering in consequence. Root maggots have levied far more than their 

 ordinary toll, the onion maggot and cabbage maggot making much trou- 

 ble early in the season, and the bean maggot causing very heavy losses, 

 and continuing their work up to the present moment. The Closer Leaf 

 Beetle was present in some districts early in the season, and a snout 

 beetle on alfalfa is becoming common in the state, even destroying en- 

 tire fields in some regions. This snout beetle, Sitones hispidulus, while 

 it has been noted in the state before, is working on all the clovers, and 

 is gaining in numbers rapidly. The Fruit Tree Leaf Roller has con- 

 tinued to thrive in restricted areas, and has proven very difficult to con- 

 trol. A borer in young corn plants, resembling the Tomato Stalk 

 Borer, if, indeed, it does not prove to be the same thing, has appeared in 

 some fields and destroyed the young corn plants wholesale. The To- 

 mato Stalk Borer. Papaipema nitela, is at present ravaging the potato 

 ifields, tunnelling in the stems of the plants and killing many outright. 



The test on the comparative values of various insulators to be used 

 in double-walled bee hives was temporarily discontinued during the 

 present season, owing to a change in the personnel of the department. 

 It will, hoAvever, be taken up during the coming winter, and we hope, 

 completed. 



The investigation of the new peach difficulty in the Avestern part of 

 the state, has been diligently pursued during the present year, and much 

 progress has been made. We feel quite confident of the successful out- 

 come of this investigation. The difficulty is due to an insect that pro- 

 duces blemishes on peaches — especially on Elbertas. These blemishes 

 do not injure the fruit very much for consumption, but fruit which 

 would otherwise be classed as fancy, has to be disposed of almost as 

 culls. 



The investigation of a pest causing Witch's Broom in gooseberry, has 

 been carried on, and the prospect of a successful outcome of the work is 

 very promising. A series of experiments has been instituted looking to 

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