126 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



I 



I doubted that the May beetle would deposit her eggs in such situa- 

 tions, as the larvae hive only been known to feed on the roots of grow- 

 ing vegetation, but the specimens accompanying the letter had all the 

 characteristics of the young larvae o^ {Lachnostiunia fusca.) It is known 

 that the parent beetle prefers to consign her eggs to freshly plowed 

 ground, as being more readily entered, and the compost heaps mention- 

 ed, so largely composed of vegetable matter, probably afforded an at- 

 tractive nidus. The young larvae must have subsisted, at first, on the 

 sawdust. It seems almost incredible that they should do so, and I am 

 still inclined to believe that they are the young of some other species. 

 If they prove to be the white grub, the strawberry plantation will soon 

 show the effects of their work. The object of this notice is to warn 

 gardeners against the use of fertilizers like that described, unless they are 

 sure that it is free from worms that may prove destructive. 



THE CABBAGE CURCULIO. 

 {C eiitorrhynchus napi.) 



I have also had considerable correspondence, during the spring, with 

 Mr. Schnell, concerning an insect which has not yet been '• posted " in 

 works on Economic Entomology, but which bids fair to rank as a first- 

 class pest. 



Under date of April 26th, Mr. Schnell wrote : " I send you by 

 mail, to-day, some cabbage plants that are full of some kind of larvae — 

 the smaller ones on younger plants only show the puncture. It is a 

 new pest to me and if you can give me any information in regard to it, 

 I shall be very thankful." 



The plants enclosed, showed considerable fretting around the crown 

 and along the ribs of the first leaves, but I could not find the larvae 

 mentioned. A few days later, Mr. Schnell wrote again : " Since send- 

 ing you the cabbage plants, I have taken time to look closer and have 

 found the mischief-maker, and send you by mail, three of them, also 

 some cabbage plants or hearts, showing where they have worked. I 

 thought perhaps you could prescribe a solution that would kill them. 

 They have ruined over one-half of 40,000 plants in my hot beds, and I 

 would like to check their depredations another year. Since finding them 

 they prove to be the same beetle that I was troubled with two years 

 ago, but at that time they were on plants in the field, and I saw none in 

 the hot beds. I hand-picked them and was not troubled any more as 

 they were not very numerous. They drop to the ground as soon as mo- 



