221 



certain, therefore, that it should be an important factor in control 

 in the plantations. Some 200 insects are now ready for distribution 

 each day and liberations have already been made in some plantations. 

 The author is prepared to provide at a small cost a model cage with 

 the necessary plant stems for rearing, to any planter that applies 

 to him. Such cages with wire mesh screening should be placed at 

 intervals in the plantations. The emergence of this insect is much 

 retarded by the first cold weather and stops completely after about 

 8 days. The parasite is, however, less susceptible to cold than the 

 borer. 



Another Braconid parasite of X. quadripes has been found less 

 abundantly in cages and in the field. Breeding of this species has not 

 been possible as the sexes have not emerged at the same time. Several 

 eggs are laid on each host, but the ovipositor is much shorter than 

 that of the other species described. Other Braconid parasites of minor 

 importance also occur. An Ichneumonid parasite that was reared 

 in 1914 was observed in the plantations in 1919, but its numbers were 

 too few for rearing in the laboratory. 



Some small black ants have been found preying upon the larvae, 

 pupae and adults of X. quadripes. They live entirely within the trunks 

 where the borers are to be found, their life-cycle apparently requiring 

 30 days in warm Aveather. Reproduction practically ceases in the cold 

 weather. Unfortunately they also attack the larvae of the Braconid 

 parasites. 



A scale- insect found on the roots of coffee plants closely resembles 

 Pseudococciis citri. It is suggested that fumigation of the roots by 

 pouring potassium sulpho-carbonate into a trench should be efficacious 

 against it. 



The attacks of Schoenobius incertellus, Wlk., on rice have only caused 

 an infestation of 5 per cent, at the maximum in Cho-Ganh ; it is thought 

 that its Hymenopterous and Dipterous parasites account for this. 



The Anobiid beetle, Lasioderma serricorne, does serious damage to 

 stored tobacco and to cigars and cigarettes prepared from infested 

 tobacco. Fumigation with carbon bisulphide has been suggested as 

 a remedy, but tliis does not destroy the eggs and therefore at least 

 two treatments are necessary. Dry heat is probably a more efficacious 

 and safer process. 



Tait (J.). Some Diseases of Fruit-trees. — Agric JL, Victoria, B.C., 

 V, no. 1, March 1920, pp. 6 & 13. 



This paper deals in a popular manner with the usual pests found on 

 fruit trees, including the pear-leaf blister mite [Erio])hyes pyri], 

 the woolly apple aphis [Eriosoma lanigerum] and the peach-tree borer 

 [Aegeria exitiosa]. The usual remedial measures are discussed. 



Caesar (L.). To Control the San Jose Scale. — Canadian Horticulturist 

 & Beekeeper, Toronto, Ont., xxviii, no. 3, March 1920, pp. 59-60. 



The first essential for keeping an orchard free from San Jose scale 

 [Aspidiotus perniciosus] is clean cultivation. Good pruning is of the 

 greatest importance and all rough, loose bark should be scraped off 

 the main branches and trunk so that the scale will not be protected by 



