SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 359 



I think scraping should be carefully done. Ifc is tlio rough bark, not all the 

 bark, that it is desired to remove. So far as I liave observed, I am led to 

 doubt that trees scraped in June are less able to stand a severe winter. I can 

 see no reason why they sliould be. The bark scales would seem a light armor 

 against severe cold. I believe scraping and wasliing trees with soft soap in 

 early June very serviceable. I^ot others report. Prof. A. J. Cook. 



THE CODLING MOTIL 



My plan — as at present advised — is to scrape off all loose bark — there is no 

 moss in my orchard — from tlie trunks and large branches, and then wash with 

 whale-oil soap — one pound of soap dissolved in about tiiree gallons of water, 

 and applied with a stiff brush. As soon as the blossom buds start, apply the 

 '* bands," so often recommended, of course to be folloW'Cd by the destruction 

 of all wormy fruit. If the above plans fail — especially the first — then I con- 

 fess my inability to manage the codling moth. NELSOii" Ritteh. 



THE PEAR SLUG. 



It is a dull olive brown small slug-like larva or false caterpillar about a 

 third of an inch in length. It differs from the young of most saw-flies in 

 secreting under its skin a slimy exudation, which, with its color, causes it to 

 closely resemble a slug. It creeps about over the surface of the leaf by twenty 

 short feet. It nibbles the upper surface of the leaf of the pear or cherry by 

 means of two short stout jaws, eating the pulpy part of the leaf, making 

 patches of a dead brown color; several larvae on a single leaf producing 

 numerous spots, thus disfiguring the leaf and causing it to wither. In certain 

 seasons and localities entire orchards may be injured by these slimy pests. 

 The black fly, with four wings, is remotely allied to the ants and bees, and 

 appears in June when it lays its eggs, the slugs appearing in July and early 

 August. A second brood of flies occurs in September. Many of the eggs of 

 this fly are rendered abortive by the attacks of a minute parasite fly {Eneyrtiis) 

 which oviposits in the eggs, thus preventing the development of the slug. By 

 scattering lime, ashes, powdered hellebore or Persian insect powder over the 

 infested leaves, or by showering the tree with a solution of carbolic acid or 

 carbolic soap suds, the ravages of this pest may be stopped. An account of 

 the insect, the scientific name of which is Selatidria cerasi, of Peck, is given 

 in Harris's ** Treatise on the Injurious Insects of Massachusetts," and a brief 

 account with figures of the insect in its different stages is given in Packard'a^ 

 *' Guide to the Study of Insects, — Professor A. S, Packard, 



DO BEES DESTROY GRAPES ? 



There has been quite a controversy between apiarians and fruit growers as- 

 to whether bees destroy grapes or not. Mr. Langstroth and others claimed 

 that the bees did not and could not eat a grape until the skin was first punc- 

 tured. The fruit grower, however, who found the bees swaiming on hi& 



