241 



and devour immense numbers. Minute four- winged flies (Braconidte) deposit 

 their e^-gs in the body of the louse, producing grubs which devour the interior 

 of the living insect, and afterwards gnaw through tlie dead skin and escape. 

 These skins may readily be recognized by their brown, leathery appearance, 

 and by the small round in the abdomen through which the fly has crept. 



The larvse of the lace-winged fly (Chrysopa) also feeds entirely upon plant 

 lice, as does also the larvse of syrphus, a small two-winged fly beautifully 

 banded with black and yellow on the body. These will be more fully described 

 when treating of insects beneficial to the farmer by destroying those injurious 

 to vegetation. 



EXPERIMENTAL FARM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE, 



Reservation No. 2, comprising the area between Twelfth and Fourteenth 

 streets, with the Smithsonian grounds on the east and the "Washington monu- 

 ment grounds on the Avest, has been used by the Department of Agriculture, by 

 authority of Congress, as an experimental farm. 



Operations were commenced thereon to a limited extent last season. The 

 soil being a heavy clay, time, labor, and fertilizers were essential in an attempt 

 to reduce it to proper tilth and condition for successful experiment. The results 

 in this direction have been satisfactory. 



The following are the kinds and number of varieties of seeds sown or planted : 



Cereals, S^-c. 



Wheat 110 Sweet corn 5 



Oats 18 Sorghum 4 



Barley 13 Millet 4 



Rye 17 Rice 4 



Indian corn 13 Corn from Dutch West Indies . 1 



Herbage and forage plants. 



Rye-grass, &c 25 Lucerne 2 



Clovers 9 Sanfoin 1 



Leguminous plants. 



Horse beans 4 Pole beans 10 



Long pod or " Turkey" beans . . 13 Peas 70 



Kidney or French beans 24 Vetches 3 



Plants having tuberous and bulbous roots. 



Potatoes 43 Parsnip 3 



Beet 7 Kohl rabi 6 



Mangel- Wurzel 6 Radish 7 



Carrots 10 ^ 



