668 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 37 



varies with Its nature and not in any special cavities in the soil or apparently 

 with any relation to the proximity of food. In packed clay soil the depth to 

 which the eggs were deposited varied from 0.5 to 1 in. below the surface, and 

 in light sandy soil the average depth was from 1.5 to 2 in., although some few 

 clusters were found as deep as 3 or even 4 in. below the surface. The eggs 

 hatched in 20 days at a greenhouse temperature ranging from 58 to 76° F. 



Five larval stages are described. The first stage has 5 pairs of legs and the 

 succeeding larval stages 10, 29, 31, and 35 pairs, respectively. Roomy cells are 

 formed in the earth in which they pass the molts. 



Observations show that manure or decaying vegetable matter is the principal 

 food of these millipeds. Experimental feedings indicate that they will not 

 burrow in sand after the raw ends of cuttings or the newly formed roots, that 

 they will not attack the stems of plants even under the stress of hunger, and 

 that they can subsist for some time on the humus In the soil. The millipeds 

 occasionally attack sprouting seeds, and it is believed that they can be starved 

 into attacking the roots of some plants and under certain conditions may 

 damage them to a limited extent. 



The green alga that grows on moist flower pots appears to be an important 

 source of food for this species. Observations indicate that it has predacious 

 habits also, a half-grown milliped having been observed to attack and destroy 

 a dipterous larva that was about 3 mm. long, and it was also observed to feed 

 upon the remains of an earthworm, a green aphid, etc. 



No parasites have been reared up to the present time but a small centiped 

 is thought to attack it. In control work the authors' experiments with poison 

 baits gave negative results, although they have been recommended as being 

 efficient in some localities. Tests of tobacco products show that they are prob- 

 ably the best material for the control of the hothouse milliped. Tobacco dust 

 sprinkled on the beds at the rate of 300 lbs. to the acre (1 oz. to 9 sq. ft.) has 

 proved fairly effective, about 85 per cent of the millipeds on the beds being 

 found dead the following day, although some apparently normal Individuals 

 were moving around through the dust, and only about 5 per cent of the niilll- 

 ppds below the surface were dead. Forty per cent nicotin sulphate was ap- 

 plied with good results at strengths varying from 1 part to 750 parts of water 

 to 1 part to 1,000 parts of water. When applied at the weaker strength with a 

 watering can until tlie soil of the beds was thoroughly drenched about 90 per 

 cent were killed by the treatment, Including nearly every milliped within 3 In. 

 of the surface. 



FOODS— HITMAN NTTTRITION. 



How to select foods. — II, Cereal foods, Caroline L. Hunt and Helen W. 

 Atwateb {U. 8. Dept. Agr., Farmers' DuL 817 (1917), pp. 2S, figs. 5).— Con- 

 tinuing previous work (E. S. R.. 37, p. 364), this publication deals with foods 

 rich in starch and especially with the cereals and foods made from them. 



Cereals, it is pointed out, are mild-flavored and comparatively inexpensive 

 foods, which are very largely depended upon to yield energy to the body. 

 In addition to this, they also yield varying but important amounts of tissue- 

 building and body-regulating substances. Rightly combined with well-chosen 

 food materials from other food groups, cereals can be safely used as the main 

 part of the ration. Wisely planned, a diet in which cereals are so used can be 

 made adequate, attractive, and at the same time economical. 



Eggs in a thousand ways, A. Meteb {Chicago: The Hotel Monthly Press. 

 1917, pp. 140). — A compilation of recipes for the preparation of eggs for the 

 table. 



