54 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



means 1o send out two collectors of parasitic insects, one to collect 

 parasites for the control of the beet leaf hopper, the carrier of the 

 destructive leaf-curl disease in California, and the other to collect 

 parasites to control the constantly increasing mealy bug pest in citrus 

 groves. 



The results so far obtained from the work of Leptomastix, and the 

 fact that it has successfully hibernated in Marysville, warrant in my 

 opinion the expense of further search in countries likely to have the 

 parasites. 



Senator Benson has also introduced an act making it a misdemeanor 

 to import live insects into California. This is necessary to prevent 

 repetition of the action of insect collectors like the one in Los Angeles 

 who recently imported from Florida a shipment of living larva- known 

 as orange dog caterpillars, an exceedingly destructive citrus pest which 

 does not exist in California. Fortunately, this shipment was intercepted 

 and destroyed by the deputy quarantine officer in Los Angeles. 



I may mention here as an interesting fact that the destructive Gypsy 

 moth was introduced in Massachusetts by a collector whose carelessness 

 has cost the affected states and the United States Government millions 

 of dollars in an effort to control the pest. 



The intervening thirty days between the first and second sessions will 

 give all those interested in horticultural legislation an opportunity to 

 study the proposed amendments, and if improvement is desirable in 

 some cases, this office should be notified as soon as possible. — G. H. H. 



Storage of Fruits. — We wish to call the special attention of our 

 readers to the article in this number of the Bulletin by Mr. A. D. 

 Shamel of the United States Department of Agriculture. If we may 

 judge from the one carefully planned and executed experiment 

 recorded in this article, the factor of relative humidity is of as much 

 if not greater importance in the storage of fruits than temperature, 

 and the data submitted to the public through this article we believe 

 is far reaching in its importance. This preliminary experiment will 

 serve as a basis for future tests in the storing of fruits under differing 

 conditions of temperature and relative humidity, and indications are 

 that these factors may lie regulated in such a way as to preserve 

 fruit for long periods of time without the necessity of icing. A study 

 of the table in this article brings out the remarkable fact that with 

 temperatures ranging from 79 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the 

 relative humidity from 68 to 96 per cent, Bartlett pears placed in 

 the storage room when hard but ripe, remained there for thirty days 

 without further ripening or deterioration. — G. P. W. 



Plant Lice. — While most insects which feed upon plants are restricted 

 in their food habits to a certain species, the plant lice or Aphididce 

 present some striking exceptions to this rule, and often a species of 

 aphis may be found upon two or more widely separated species of 

 plants. The articles in this issue, by Prof. C. P. Gillette of the Colo- 

 rado Agricultural College and Mr. W. M. Davidson of the United States 

 Bureau of Entomology, mention certain species of aphids which have 

 alternate host plants. The mealy plum louse, Hyalopterus arundinis, 

 a very destructive enemy of plums and apricots, has been found by 

 Mr. Davidson on cat-tails during the summer season. This species also 



