302 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



no question in my mind but that the pernicious little cabbage stalk 

 curculio fCeutorhynchus rapcej, of which I gave an account in a paper 

 read before this Society some years ago, originated, or at least was 

 perpetuated, in the wild pepper-grass (Lepidium virginicum)^ from 

 which I bred it ten years before it was reported as a pest of the hot- 

 bed and market garden. It is this same plant also which chiefly fosters 

 the striped flea beetle, another pest of our most valuable cruciferous 

 plants. It should, therefore, be especially guarded against in the neigh- 

 borhood of the vegetable garden. Many similar examples of the dan- 

 ger of certain weeds might be adduced, but would too greatly extend 

 my space limits. They simply point to the value of the study of the 

 habits of insects attacking wild vegetation, especially that which is 

 generically related to valuable cultivated plants. 



There are, it is true, instances iu which insects radically change 

 their food habits, and attack plants in the garden which are of an en- 

 tirely different group from those on which they originally fed. Such 

 erratic developments cannot of course be anticipated, and can only be 

 met by the use of insecticides in the garden or orchard. 



In conclusion, it may be said that, taking all things into consider- 

 ation, the warfare against destructive insects is progressing favorably, 

 and that, as a knowledge of their life Mstories and habits becomes 

 more general, preventive measures and direct attacks will be more in- 

 telligently used and will, therefore, meet with a measure of success 

 which may save the agriculturist from all but a very small percentage 

 of loss. 



THE TARNISHED PLANT-BUG. 



(Lygus pratensis, Linn.) 



No insect attracted so much attention or inflicted so much damage 

 during the spring of 1895 as the species named above. Letters came 

 to me from all parts of the State, but especially from the south and 

 west, inclosing specimens, and giving accounts of its 

 .disastrous work on the blossoms of fruit-trees, straw- 

 berry plants and other vegetation. The rather mild 

 and dry winter preceding had permitted the survival 

 of a very unusual proportion of these bugs, and as 

 > there were few drenching showers during the spring 

 to beat them from the trees, they naturally "did their 

 worst" for the fruit-grower, and were the cause of 



Fls. 1. The Tarnished S^eat loSS. 



RifeyV From mpt' The popular name of this insect has been changed 



of Agriculture. ^^^^ -^^ original, somewhat inconvenient, adverbial 



