835 



successful experiment farm received tlic contajiion IVoin such rann, llioro was no 

 evidence of a general epidemic result in-;- fM)ni tlie iutKiduitimi of iulctiou liom my 

 laboratory. * * * 



"The experiments in the summer of 1890, which was a dry and hot season, showed 

 that tlie bacterial disease was readily communicated and thoroughly ettective under 

 circumstances which are generally sui)])osed to be higliiy unfavorable for the propa- 

 gation of chinch bug disease. The ex))eriiucnts of the year 1,S»)1 were accompanied 

 by similar results. * * * 



"A remarkable peculiarity in the behavior of the sick Imgs iu many lields in mid- 

 summer demands especial attention. In many cornticlds, the bugs, having aban- 

 doned their attack upon tlie corn at the end of about the fourth day, would wander 

 about upon the surface of the ground for 2 or 3 days, and then would gather iu 

 bunches containing thousands of individuals. In 3 days more tlie nuijority would 

 be dead. Exaniination of these clusters of bugs disclosed the fact that in nuxny 

 cases they were composed of the skins, together with the dead bodies of bugs. These 

 skins have by some been considered as the natural results of the molting of the bugs. 

 Examination during another season will probably reveal a more satisfactory expla- 

 nation of this-phenomenon than we are uow able to give. Certainly healthv chinch 

 bugs do not collect in such clusters upon the exposed surface of the ground for tlie 

 ])urpose of molting. It is i>ossible that the skins in these clusters are all that remain 

 of bugs whose bodies have been distended by the multiplication of the Micrococcus 

 insectorum and ruptured along the lines of least resistance. 



"This peculiar bunching of the bugs the author considers to be the eft'ect of bac- 

 terial disease. .Similar bunching was continually observed iu the large infection 

 cases in the lal)oratory, and the bodies of the bugs in these bunches would be swarm- 

 ing with the fatal Micrococcus. It was observed, both in the laboratory and in the 

 held, that the bodies of bugs sick with bacterial disease were unduly distended 2 

 or 3 days before death, 



"It was observed by the Held agent, and his observations are corroborated by the 

 reports of farmers, that while the bugs were bunching in places where infection had 

 been placed, they did not bunch in uninfected tields." 



Dairy schools in New York. — The Fifteenth Annual Report of the New York 

 State Dairymen's Association for 1891 (pp. 233) contains accounts of the dairy schools 

 and conferences held at the State Experiment Station and at six other places, together 

 with the proceedings of the annual convention of the Association. 



Great Britain. — The yields of the principal crops in Great Britain in 1891, as 

 estimated by the Board of Agri<iilture iu its report of the statistics of agricultural 

 produce, are siuumed up as follows : 



Crops. 



Wheat 



Bailey 



Oats 



Bi-aus 



Peas 



Potatoe.s 



Turuips 



ilaugle-wurzels 



Hay from clover, sainfoin, etc 

 Hay iVoui permanent pasture 

 Hops 



Estimated total produce. 



1891. 



Buiihels. 

 74, 742, 700 

 79, 555, 089 

 166, 472, 428 

 10, 694, 376 



5, 777, 445 

 Tons. 



6, 090, 047 

 29, 741, 587 



7, 558, 216 

 Cwt. 



25. 566, 162 



167, 862, 776 



436, 710 



1890. 



BusheU. 



75, 993, 883 



80, 793, 525 



171, 295, 404 



11,859,633 



6, 312, 910 



Tdiig. 



4, 622, 214 



32. 002, 201 



6, 708, 880 



Cwt. 



97, 045, 740 



192, 275, 600 



283, 629 



Yield per aero. 



1891. 



Bnshels. 

 31.30 

 34.72 

 40.46 

 29. 83 

 28.23 

 Tons. 

 4.74 

 13. 40 

 18.60 

 Cwt. 

 31. 39 

 28.13 

 7.78 



1890. 



liuiltelg. 

 30. 66 

 35. 23 

 41.54 

 32. 77 

 28.71 

 To)is. 



3.53 

 14.27 

 17.76 

 Cwt. 

 33. 19 

 30.81 



.5.26 



Scotland.— The Annual Report of the Agricultural Research Association for 1891 

 (pp. 38, plates 4), by T. Janneson, contains accounts of experiments with gra.ss mix- 

 tuies, clover, superphosphates on clover, alfalfa, serradella, flax, fertilizers for turuips, 



