38 THE LILAC-BORER. 



sucking insects of this kind wilted and died; it seemed as if a 

 poison was injected by the insect while imbibing the fluid food. 



THE LILAC-BORER. 



{Sesia syrhigce Harr.). 



In last year's report were described a number of our most 

 common and destructive lepidopterous borers. Since that 

 time another species has become very prominent; it is a 

 rather beautiful moth resembling very closely a common pa- 

 per-nest hornet. It greatly resembles the borer so very 

 destructive to our ash-trees, but confines its operations 

 to that beautiful, ornamental and hardy shrub, the lilac, 

 in the older trunks of which it occurs in large numbers and 

 which it soon kills. An illustration of the living insect is 

 given in fig. 21, plate II. 



As far as remedies are concerned but very little can be 

 accomplished beyond a removal of the old wood. The pres- 

 ence of such borers is indicated by numerous holes and by 

 the frass or saw-dust accumulating beneath. By coating 

 the old v^^ood very early in June with a mixture of soft-soap 

 and Paris green we can repel the female and thus prevent her 

 from laying eggs upon such plants. The soap will soon 

 wash away but the poison is left in the cracks of the bark and 

 all insects boring though it must necessarily come in contact 

 with the Paris green and die in consequence. 



THE PLUM-GOUGER. 



{('occotorus i)runicida Walsh). 



There is no kind of fruit that promises so well in Minne- 

 sota as the plum and wonderful progress has already been 

 made in the past to improve our wild species, and to create, 

 hy selection, crosses, or other means, new and better varie- 

 ties, and it seems, when we look at the samples of plums 

 shown last year at the different fairs that before very long 

 fruit far superior to all others grown now will be the re- 

 sult of such painstaking work. It seems to the writer that 

 the only true road to success has been chosen, viz: to im- 

 prove the native kinds, which are known to be hardy, and 

 not to attempt to bring to our state others found in coun- 



