96 [Assembly^ 



The above proportion of the purple would not be needed for 

 killing the young and tender larvae, and might possibly brown the 

 newly opening leaves. Of course no greater strength should be 

 used than necessary. As the eggs hatch unequally a second spray- 

 ing after the lapse of a week may be important, even in the 

 absence of rain. 



An apparatus has been lately devised by Messrs. Moody & Sons, 

 nurserymen, of Lockport, N. Y., by means of which the power for 

 the agitation of the liquid and the working of the force pump is 

 obtained from the revolution of the wheels of the wagon holding 

 the tank, as it is driven through the orchard, and the discharge 

 pipe is held and directed by the driver. 



An Unknown Gkass Pest. 



An attack upon grass which has long been noted, but never 

 investigated, has recently been brought to my notice through speci- 

 mens of the injured grass sent to me from Emmett, Ohio, with 

 inquiry of its cause. The communication states that more than 

 thirty per cent of the stalks of the June grass have been dead since 

 the tenth of May. 



The same attack occurs in specimens of June grass sent to me 

 from Union Springs, N. Y., by Mr. J. J. Thomas, who had 

 observed it for many years. I also find it in a small grass plat in 

 my own garden, at the present time (last of June). Examination 

 fails to disclose the presence of any insect, either within the sheath 

 or the stalk itself. The stalk, in most examples, appears to have 

 been eaten after the manner of the wheat-stem maggot, which pro- 

 duces the fly described by Dr. Fitch, in his second New York 

 re])ort, as Meromyza Americana, an account of which is given at 

 some length in my First Report on the Insects of New York 

 (pp. 221-227), together with a figure showing the manner in which 

 the larva preys upon the stem. The operations of the grass-stem 

 insect may be supposed to be similar to this; and if it be looked for 

 about the middle of May, it should be found working upon the 

 stem in the same manner. It is not unlikely that it is some small 

 fly belonging to the family of Oscinid<B, which contains many 

 species injurious to grain crops in Europe and in this country. 



