New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 19 



Downy mildew on cucumbers. — The early cucumber and pickle 

 industry of Long Island has been in danger of destruction from 

 the ravages of this disease. The experiments of Mr. Stewart in 

 1896 resulted in materially checking its development by spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture. 



These experiments were repeated at two points in 1897 with 

 similar results. On a small plat of early cucumbers at Floral 

 Park, spraying caused an increased yield of over 30,000 fruits per 

 acre. 



On the farm of Mr. Robert Oolyer an acre of late cucumbers 

 was sprayed under the direction of Mr. Stewart. The resulting 

 crop was about 102,000 fruits, the average yield with growers 

 who took no pains to control the mildew being not over 20,000 

 fruits per acre. It is probable that other growers can produce 

 equally large crops when the spraying is done with equal intelli- 

 gence and thoroughness. 



Department of Entomology. ' 



Insectart/. — A portion of one of the large greenhouses is being 

 remodeled for use as an insectary. Among other important 

 features it will contain breeding cages of necessary sizes and 

 shapes in which various species of injurious insects can be iso- 

 lated and their habits studied^ root cages for studying insects 

 which attack the roots of plants, and fumigating boxes to be 

 used in testing the effects of various gases upon insects in differ- 

 ent stages of development. A dark room also forms an im- 

 portant part of the equipment of the insectary. 



The collection of insects. — ^About 200 species have been added to 

 the Station collection of insects besides valuable biological ma- 

 terial illustrating the life histories, habits and injurious work of 

 some of the species already in the coillection. The collection now 

 numbers nearly 2,600 species. 



Illustrations. — An important part of the work during the past 

 season has been the making of illustrations, photographs and 

 drawings, showing the structure, life histories and habits of in- 



