Note from Antioch College. 285 



Note from Antioch College, by E. W. Claypole, B. A. B. S. 

 The Canker worm. — Anisopteryx vernata. 



This destroyer of orchards reached us at Yellow Spi-ings from the 

 east about four years ago, or at least then first attracted attention. 

 It is slowly spreading through the town. Every year a few more 

 brown leafed apple trees in June prove its advance, this, however, is 

 probably not its extreme western limit though how far it has advanced 

 and as it were overlapped us, I cannot at present exactly determine. 

 I have not been able to make a personal inspection during the month 

 over any extent of country, and without this or the reports of some one 

 well acquainted with the insect, such a determination is impossible, 

 so many different species being confounded in popular accounts of 

 "worms," "millers," etc. It would be very useful if persons living in 

 different parts of the states, could report the appearance in their 

 localities of this insect pest, so that its annual progress westward could 

 be recorded. 



Attempts were made by some of the OAvners of the infested trees to 

 remedy the evil by the usual method, but the measures were not taken 

 in time. Instead of papering and tarring a belt upon the trunks of 

 the trees in October, this was delayed until March, consequently the 

 moths which came out of their subterranean chrysalids in mild weather 

 during the winter had ascended the trees in large numbers as was 

 shown by the capture of hundreds, the first night after the tar had 

 been applied. 



The ^Ecidium — Puecinia question. In connection with this point it 

 may not be uninteresting to remark that the leaves of the may apple 

 Podophyllum peltatum, which three weeks ago were dotted on their 

 lower surfaces with "cluster cups," ]}rohvih\y uEcidium berberidis are 

 noted, June 8th, thickly dotted in many places with a mildew, jmccmia 

 presenting under the microscope the usual appearance of two brown 

 cells placed end to end. Each of these cells bear two or more short 

 thick wistle-like ^projections. Their occurrence on the same plane may 

 be purely accidental, but if the experiments of Prof. Oersted bear out 

 his inference that Aeeklium bcrberidis and Puecinia granimis are alter- 

 nate forms of each other, then may this JEcidimn which I have 

 assumed to be JE. bcrberidis, because the may apple and the barberry 

 both belong to the same natural order, be also an alternate form of 

 the Puecinia which has followed it. 



