prove that on the whole this is the most practicable remedy — to defer sowing until about 

 the 20th of September, by which time most of the flies will have disappeared. Late 

 sowing, however, has the disadvantage that the plants not being so well established, are 

 not as well fitted to withstand the severe weather of the winter. High culture is advan- 

 tageous, as the luxuriant growth which the young wh^;at makes under such circum- 

 stances will enable it better to withstand the weakening etfects of the grubs. Among 

 the other measures recommended are pasturing the wheat fields with sheep, and the 

 application of lime to the youag wheat to kill the larvae. 



During the past few weeks I have examined the roots of a number of sickly-looking 

 grape vines about London, Ontario, and have found the root-inhabiting form of the Phyl- 

 loxera vastatrix, the dreaded scourge of the vine in Europe, in considerable numbers on the 

 young rootlets, and have been able to clearly trace the diseased condition of those vines 

 to that cause. I am convinced that this insect prevails to a greater extent than may at 

 first be suspected tlyoughout our Province, and that it is inflicting material injury, for 

 besides having found it common about London, I have satisfactory evidence of its pres- 

 ence in the neighbourhood of Grimsby, where many vines are reported as diseased, and 

 have also found it recently injuring the vines at Paris, There are no symptoms which 

 indicate the first onset of this insect. It is only after the Phylloxera has destroyed a 

 large portion of the roots, that the vine assumes a sickly aspect, becoming stunted in its 

 growth and yellow in the foliage. On examining the roots of a vine so affected, most of 

 the small rootlets — through which the vine draws the chief part of its nourishment — are 

 found dead, and with many small knots and swelUngs on them. If a few freshly formed, 

 living rootlets can be found, which may in such cases be looked for about the crown of 

 the vine, these minute lice will usually be seen clustering upon them, often surrounded 

 by groups of their eggs, and causing little swellings thereon. But it frequently happens 

 that when the vines have reached this depleted condition, no insects can be found; they 

 have entirely left them, and traversing the interlacing roots of other vines, found their 

 way to richer pastures. 



This insect occurs in two very different forms ; in one, known as the gall-inhabit- 

 ing type, it is found upon the vine leaves, producing in June, July and August globular 

 or cup-shaped galls of varying sizes, of a greenish red or yellowish colour, with their 

 outer surface uneven and somewhat woolly. The enlargement is on the under side of 

 the leaf, and if^ one is cut into, it will be found to contain from one to four orange 

 coloured, wingless lice, and a large number of very minute, oval, pale yellow eggs, with 

 some newly hatched lice. Soon the gall becomes too thickly populated, when the sur- 

 plus lice wander off through its partly opened mouth on the upper side of the leaf, and 

 establish themselves on the same leaf or on adjoining leaves, where the irritation occa- 

 sioned by their punctures causes the formation of new galls, within which the lice mature 

 and increase. These galls are quite common, especially on leaves of the Clinton and 

 other thin-leaved varieties, also on the wild grape ; they sometimes occur in such abun- 

 dance as to cause the leaves to turn brown and fall prematurely from the vine, and 

 instances are recorded of defoliation from this cause. Late in the season, as the leaves 

 become less succulent, the lice either perish or seek other quarters, and some of them 

 find their way to the roots of the vines and establish themselves as already described, 

 where, with their change of habit, there follows a slight difference in their appearance. 

 During the winter they remain torpid, renewing their activity in the spring. As the 

 summer advances, a portion of the root lice acquire wings, when they issue fi-om the 

 ground, and rising in the air, they fly or are carried with the wind to neighbouring vine- 

 yards, where they deposit their eggs on the under side of the leaves, among their downy 

 hairs, beneath the loosened bark of the branches and trunk, or in crevices of the ground 

 about the base of the vine. The complete life history of this insect, which is extremely 

 interesting and curious, may be found in the 5th, 6tb, 7fch and 8th Eeports on the In- 

 sects of Missouri, by Prof. C. V. Riley. 



The gall-inhabiting type of this insect may be subdued by picking off' the infested 

 leaves and destroying them, but the root inhabiting type is a much more difficult form 

 to deal with. Various applications to the soil have been recommended, such as bisulp- 

 hide of carbon, and carbolic acid diluted with water and poured into holes made in the 



