43 



that the character and greatcoat of the same is occasioned by tbe neces- 

 sity for protection against trespassers. Another suggestion may be 

 made, that farmers would gain largely by confining their own cattle to 

 the barn-yard, and cutting grass for them until after harvest, thus dis- 

 pensing with at least one-half of their inside fences, and avoid the inju- 

 rious etfects of the tramping of cattle upon wet fields. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL RECORD. 



By Towxknd Glover, Ento.moi.ogist. 



Further remarks on the Phylt!,oxera. — On page 55 of this issue 

 will be found an article from M. Planchon, who was sent officially to in- 

 vestigate the insects and diseases infesting grape-vines in America, in 

 order to ascertain if the true Phylloxera rastatrix was also injuring the 

 vines as in France. As we have given his report, we deem it only just 

 to give also the other side of the question, as much doubt has existed in 

 the minds of some of our vine culturists as to the theory of the Phylloxera 

 being an American insect at all, and as such having been imported into 

 France with American grape-vines. 



M. Laliman, in the French journal La Guienne, published at Bordeaux, 

 criticises severely M. Planchon's report to the minister of agriculture 

 upon his late mission to the. United States, and qnestions his conclusions 

 as to the identification of the Phylloxera. He says M. Planchon's period 

 of observation in' America was too brief for any settlement of the ques- 

 tion; and when speaking of the identity of the Pemphigus vififoliw, (of 

 Fitch,) or the grape-leaf gall-louse, and the Phylloxera rastatrix, or 

 grape-vine root gall-louse, he says, '-We are a little surprised not to see 

 in the present report any indication on this point." M. Laliman ad- 

 duces several facts contradicting the idea of tbe root gall-louse of Europe 

 being an American insect, as "in Missouri, one of the alleged States 

 from which the gall-louse is said to have originated, the grape yield is 

 larger than ever, depressing the market prices in Saint Louis," and 

 quotes Dr. Parker, who says, " We know of no insect ravaging our vines ; 

 our sole concern is to sell our grapes, so great is the production of our 

 vines." M. Laliman also arj.ues that if the two insects are identical,- as 

 maintained by Messrs.* Planchon and Riley, that vines of the Labrusca 

 type, the Isabella and Catawba, would die in America, whereas those 

 gentlemen formerly reported them as the most robust and healthy. The 

 reviewer then cites the points raised by Mr. Berckman, editor of the 

 Farmer and Gardener, that the root gall-louse has been imported into 

 America in large numbers, as M. Labiaux, a prominent vine-grower in 

 North Carolina, imported one hundred thousand vine-plants from the 

 department of Herault, which has been infested with the European 

 grape-root gall-louse; and many other American ourserymen have also 

 received large numbers of vines from this and other infested European 

 districts. The presence of the Phylloxera, or grape-root gall-louse, in 

 America is, therefore, easily accounted for without identifying it with 

 the leaf gall-louse. M. Laliman thinks it scarcely worth while to con- 

 sider the numerous differences of form and habit characterizing these 

 insects, which have been pointed out by various entomologists, and says 

 that M. Maxime Cornu, in one of the reports given to the Academy of 

 Sciences, declares that, in order to establish the absolute identity of the 



