70 Missouri State Horticultural Society. 



terchange of experience not often offered to the j^omologist, and 

 will give another illustration of the power of association, that great 

 agent which propels the engine of modern improvement, and to 

 which we are mainly indebted for the wonderful progress of fruit 

 culture on this continent. Under this influence the American 

 Pomological Society, with the co-operation of kindred societies, has 

 spread its organization from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores, and 

 now furnishes columns in its catalogue for fruits adapted to more 

 than fifty states, territories and districts of our immense domain. 

 To all this the Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society has contrib- 

 uted largely. God bless her. 



MAESHALL P. WILDER. 



INSECTS AFFECTING THE STEAWBEKRY. 



Professor S. A. Forbes, state entomologist of Illinois, next read 

 an interesting paper upon "Insects affecting the strawberry." 



In beginning, he said the strawberry is undoubtedly now the 

 most jjopular of American fruits, eaten by more people than any 

 other, except the apple. Since the improvements of rapid trans- 

 portation of perishable fruits, the season has more than doubled its 

 length. No other fruit has developed so rapidly, and in Illinois it 

 is a more important crop than the grape ; the same is probably true 

 in other states. 



'^In my paper at New Orleans," said he, "last winter, I sum- 

 marized as well as I was able what was known as the insect enemies 

 of this crop, but to the rather formidable list of twenty-two species 

 then reported I have added not less than ten, then unknown. 

 Fortunately, with these exceptions, the new insect enemies observed 

 are of little present significance, occurring only in small numbers 

 and in limited localities. The tarnished plant bug, the dusky 

 plant bug and the new root worm deserve special attention. The 

 minute yellow ant, four species of plant lice, with enormotis repro- 

 ductive powers, the bark lice, scale insects of the soft maple, the 

 flea beetle, and the myriapods, or thousand-legged worms, also an 

 unknown fly mentioned by Saunders in his work on insects, are the 

 minor additions that come under my observation. 



" The strawberry root worm is of three species of beetles be- 

 longing to the same family, all inhabiting the same territory and 

 all attacking the same part of the plant. In the slang of modern 

 commerce these root worms have 'pooled their issues' and con- 

 sented to a 'division of the profits.' One of these makes the 

 earliest attack upon the plant working upon the roots as early as 



