NOTES. 805 



for conference at Moscow, Idaho, ISIarch 14, continuing in session through the follow- 

 ing day. The principal insect pest of the section, the San Jose scale and the codling 

 moth, were fully discussed. Many other insects were more 1)riefly taken up. The 

 relation of station entomologists to the State horticultural inspection work was one 

 of the topics considered, the unanimous opinion being that the entomologist should 

 keep in touch with this for the sake of the assistance it would give him in planning 

 his experimental work, but that he should not act as an inspection or quarantine 

 officer. The most threatening insect pests at present are the Hessian fly, already 

 introduced about Portland, Oreg., and the plum curculio, which was reported as 

 existing in the Bitter Root Valley of western Montana, on the west side of the conti- 

 nental divide. Plans were made for the coming season, involving among other 

 things a fuller study of the codling moth at all the stations, to detei'mine the number 

 of broods and to test the efficac}' of sprays. An organization was effected under the 

 name "Pacific Northwest Economic Entomologists," and it was decided to hold a 

 meeting annually. The membershi}) being necessarily small, a secretarj'^ was the 

 only officer elected, J. M. Aldrich, of Idaho, being chosen to that position. 



Nebraska Academy of Science. — At the twelfth annual meeting of the Nebraska 

 Academy of Science G. A. Loveland presented a paper on The Relative Humidity in 

 Dwelling Houses, giving the results of experiments upon the humidity of houses 

 heated by various means, and the results of experiments with various expedients to 

 increase the degree of moisture, and G. D. Swezey described A New Form of Sun- 

 shine Recorder, capable of registering not only the total amount and hours of sun- 

 shine during the day, but also the varying intensity. G. R. Chatburn presented 

 a paper of considerable practical importance on The Strengtli of Nebraska-Grown 

 Catalpa and Osage Orange, and C. E. Bessey noted Some Recent Changes in the 

 Nomenclature of Nebraska Plants, which have been rendered necessary by the modi- 

 fications of nomenclature introduced in recent botanical text-books. 



Reclamation of the Zuider Zee. — Interest in the proposed reclamation of the 

 Zuider Zee has been revived by the publication of a number of articles upon the sub- 

 ject of late, and by the introduction in the second chamber of the States General of 

 a bill granting authority for inaugurating the work and raising the necessary funds. 

 As is generally known, about two-thirds of the area of Holland consists of reclaimed 

 lands intersected by a system of main drains and navigable canals of a combined 

 length of over 2,000 miles. The annual budget for the maintenance of its dikes and 

 canals amounts to about $2,500,000. The reclamation of Haarlem Lake about sixty 

 years ago, furnishing about 42,000 acres of rich land, upon which are now the great 

 market gardens of Amsterdam, suggested the reclamation of the Zuider Zee, and in 

 1892 a commi.'^sion was appointed to investigate and report upon the project. 



The inundation which resulted in the formation of the Zuider Zee occurred in the 

 latter part of the thirteenth centurj', and was caused by the North Sea breaking 

 through the emljankments in several places. The water uniting with Lake Flevo 

 formed the Zuider Zee, a vast inland salt-water sea, 80 miles long and in places 30 

 miles wide, Vnit quite shallow in many places. Several plans have been advanced 

 for the reclamation of this tract by means of dikes, and the commission, which 

 rendered its report several years ago, traversed the whole ground and outlined a plan 

 which is held to be practicable. The old plan of entirely reclaiming the Zuider Zee 

 by uniting the islands marking the former coast line has been aV)andoned as 

 impracticable. The present plan contemplates the erection of a great sea dike 18 

 miles in length, extending from the north Holland coast, near the island of 

 Wieringen, to the Friesland coast near Piamm. This dike is estimated to cost about 

 $15,000,000, and to require ten years for its construction. The plan is to reclaim only 

 those portions of the sea which have a clay bottom, leaving free the mouths of the 

 rivers and the present lines of water communication. For tliis purpo.«e four inclosing 

 banks are to be constructed, and the areas inclosed pumped out. For the present it 



