190 JOURNAL OP ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 1 



were put on all of these trees on the same date or not, but this is my 

 inference. Mischievous persons, presumably boys, removed the bands 

 before further examinations could be made, but we regard this method 

 of fighting the insect as proved to be cheap and effective. 



A Millipede, one of the Polydesmidce, became very numerous in the 

 Station greenhouse this fall, occurring by tens of thousands in a bed 

 devoted to forcing cucumbers. A few vines were killed before the 

 insects attracted notice. The men in charge used a plentiful supply 

 of tobacco dust as a mulch about the bases of the vines, and also mixed 

 more or less of the dust in the soil, with the result that hundreds of 

 dead worms could be found at the base of each vine a few days after 

 the application was made, and tens of thousands of them dropped 

 from the beds to the stone floor beneath, where thej' died. This rem- 

 edy was a speedy and complete success. 



In my bulletin on insecticides, published by the Florida station, I 

 mentioned the use of powdered cyanide of potassium for ants, in 

 cases where carbon bisulphide could not be conveniently used. This 

 has been used so successfully by some parties to Avhom I have recom- 

 mended it the past summer, that I think it worth while to emphasize 

 the value of the treatment. The crushed cyanide must not come in 

 contact with plant tissues, but should be sprinkled on the soil where 

 the ants congregate, or have their nests. The ants either leave at once 

 or attempt to remove the obnoxious, particles, only to die in the at- 

 tempt. The cyanide, if used in moderation, will act as a fertilizer for 

 the plant and benefit instead of harming the same. 



Th6 Kosebug was abundant at Wooster, as has been the case for the 

 past three seasons, and the vilest sprays do but little good against it. 

 I have succeeded in driving them away for a day or two by spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture, to which was added arsenate of lead, fish-oil 

 soap and crude carbolic acid, but they were always ready to return 

 after a few hours' interval. The larger the area sprayed, the less 

 heed do they seem to give the treatment. I found it practicable to 

 fence them out from a few blooming grapevines with a covering of 

 mosquito bar, and also that they could be prevented from accumulat- 

 ing and doing any great amount of injure' by picking them by hand 

 three times a day through a two weeks' period. Though the latter 

 method was only tried on a small scale, I am inclined to think it 

 would pay in commercial vineyards of small size, at least in seasons 

 where fruit is as high priced as at present. 



During the spring, wheat and oats over Ohio suffered from a pe- 

 culiar disease, marked by a reddening, yellowing and browning of the 

 leaves, and a general stunting of the growth and retardation of the 



