486 Journal of Agriculture. [lo Aug., 1908. 



parasites, and parasites alone. The other side, represented by Professor 

 Berlese at Florence, whilst believing that the indigenous parasites will 

 do some of the work, also advocates the use of mechanical means to 

 supplement the work. Berlese has used a mixture consisting of arsenic, 

 honey and molasses diluted with water which he has compounded and 

 sprayed over infested areas with marked success, the adult flies coming 

 info the poison and dying after feeding upon it. The chief difficulty is 

 the expense and the fact that heavy rain washes it off. He is now experi- 

 menting with jars or small bottles containing this mixture hung in the 

 trees with bundles of cotton threads placed in the bottles and trailing down 

 several feet, down which the fluid is drawn, and upon which the flies 

 rest and feed. Silvestri claims that, if sprays are used, all the parasites 

 will be destroyed, but, as far as I can learn from both sides, where the 

 parasites have had a fair field, with nothing to disturb them (and quite 

 a number have been bred from the fruit fly maggot and pupa of the olive 

 flv) the increase has not yet been checked after all these years, though 

 there is much more hope for a parasite to be effective in a thin-fleshed 

 fruit like an olive, where the maggot is close to the surface, than in an 

 orange where the maggot is out of reach. 



At Dr. Silvestri's suggestion, furnished with a letter of introduction to 

 Dr. Perez in charge of the Agricultural work in Sicily, I started for 

 Palermo by the mail boat, reached the town at daylight, spent the day 

 with Dr. Perez in the lemon orchards outside the town, and left for 

 Naples again, the same night. In consequence of the bad condition of 

 the lemon trade, the greater part of the crop is still on the trees. There 

 is a large area of rich volcanic land between the mountains and the town 

 covered with orchards, principally devoted to lemons. All of the orchards 

 are under irrigation. Most of the trees are small, though many of them 

 are 60 or 70 years old. They are planted so close together, and as they 

 are grafted on sour orange stocks about 4 feet above the ground, they 

 have all their foliage above, interlacing their branches and thus forming 

 a regular thicket so that they have little chance to expand. The growers 

 claim that this high grafting or budding (for they do both) prevents collar 

 rot or gumming. Dr. Perez says that every year they lose a certain 

 percentage of the oranges in Sicily and on the mainland in Southern Italy 

 from the fruit fly; but it is not considered a serious pest, and no precau- 

 tions or methods are adopted against it. 



From Naples I went to Rome, where I stopped a day to see Dr. Grassi, 

 the great authority on White Ants {Termitid^e), and went over the Agri- 

 cultural Museum, where there is a very fine collection of agricultural 

 products. Next day I reached Florence, where I particularly wished to 

 meet Professor Berlese, who has done so much work on fruit flies. When 

 1 reached his laboratories next morning I found he had just left for 

 Genoa, so telegraphed to him that I would follow on next morning. His 

 staff showed me all their methods of work, and particularly their experi- 

 ments against the olive flies. One of the worst scale insects in Italy is 

 Diaspis fentagona which attacks the Mulberry, and, if neglected, often 

 Kills the trees ; it is this scale that Professor Berlese had gone to report 

 upon, and had taken some hymenopterous parasites he had received from 

 Japan to liberate them in the mulberry gardens north of Genoa. • I arrived 

 at Genoa that evening, met Professor Berlese, and had an interesting talk 

 with him on his methods of dealing with the olive flies, and gave him 

 some idea of what we are doing in Australia. I saw him off next morn- 

 ing, and then called u})on Dr. Gestro, who has charge of the Genoa 



