302 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 2 



issue of the Journal of Economic Entomology, in an article by Pro- 

 fessor Herrick. 



The Strawberry Weevil (Anfkonomus sig)iafi(s) again did serious 

 damage in the spring in the southeastern part of our state, where the 

 strawberry is an important crop. A number of years ago we demon- 

 strated at least the futility of a number of supposed remedies, and as 

 the favorite varieties of early berries are principally pollen-bearing 

 sorts, growers do not take readily to the suggestion to use pistillate 

 varieties. 



The Cabbage Louse (Aphis hrassicae) is a serious pest with us al- 

 most every spring'. The insect seems to pass the winter in all stages, 

 in small (or large) colonies on the leaves of fall-set cabbage, or on win- 

 ter collards (a cruciferous crop peculiar to the south) and multiply 

 abundantly when warm spring weather comes. We have found that 

 complicated emulsions of kerosene, with the necessary care as to ex- 

 act proportions of oil and water, are not at all necessary. Any or- 

 dinarily strong laundry soap shaved in thin pieces and dissolved in 

 boiling water and then diluted to 1 pound of soap to 3 gallons of water 

 is an entirely satisfactory remedy. One grower even wrote me that 

 water filtered through a barrel of wood ashes extracted enough lye so 

 that it was etfectual, but I am not able to positively confirm this. 



And right here let me say a word for simplicity. The average 

 farmer, trucker, or fruit-grower (at least in North Carolina) is not dis- 

 posed to prepare and use remedies in which special care has to be used 

 to get proportions exact and where there are also many ingredients. 

 We need to remember that an entomologist in the zeal of his experi- 

 ment can easily procure all sorts of substances, and use methods of ex- 

 actness, which the ordinary farmer will not, and in most cases cannot, 

 use. We blissfully recommend "kerosene emulsion at the strength of 

 25% oil" for this, or "at rate of 15% oil" for that, and yet we must 

 know that not one man in a dozen to whom we make these suggestions 

 actually goes to the trouble of preparing the emulsion and testing the 

 advice. In this I believe that my experience is not different from that 

 of other entomologists. The simpler the process of preparing a rem- 

 edy, the fewer the ingredients, and the easier they may be obtained 

 the better, even though it may kill a less percentage of the offending in- 

 sects. 



In the latter part of March I received complaint of a species of 

 "little brown cricket," which, to quote from my correspondent: 



"Piles up dirt at his hole like an ant, and promises to give a lot 

 of trouble with tobacco and other plants that are transplanted. They 

 cut the plants off and pull them in the ground. I see that they are 



