STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 123 
Grape Phylloxera. 
Of all the insects of this group, the Grape Phylloxera, one of the most 
minute of all, has done the greatest amount of damage and has proved the. 
most difficult to cope with. Millions of dollars have been lost to this country 
and to Europe through its ravages, innumerable families have been impov- 
erished by it, and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been expended in 
investigations and experiments for a remedy; but all without avail. It is 
very humiliating to have to acknowledge that the will, ingenuity and skill of 
man should be baffled by a tiny insect Jike this; but such is the case. In 
this country, where it is a native, it does not do so much harm. It only 
entirely prohibits the growing of European grape-vines, which would 
otherwise do well here and add materially to our resources and luxuries. 
‘Our native vines although attacked by it, have greater powers of resistance 
and usually produce quite well, if the season be favorable, in spite of its 
galls on the leaves and the swellings it causes on the roots. Its evil effects 
have been most severely felt in the wine-making districts of France, where 
it was unconsciously introduced on the roots of grape vines sent from 
America. Within the last ten years it has blighted the majority of the 
‘vineyards and caused very great financial distress among those dependent 
upon wine making for a livelihood. The French government and the 
various scientific societies have appropriated large sums of money for inves- 
tigation and for the discovery of a certain and practicable remedy, in which 
the best naturalists and chemists of Europe have interested themselves. 
And the same has been done in this country. But as yet, no reliable remedy 
has been found. The insect that has attracted all this atterttion is an 
almost microscopic, yellow louse, that feeds for the most part upon the 
fibrous roots of the grape, causing, by its irritating punctures, knotty 
swellings, which, after a time, decay and cause the roots to slough off, thus 
in time, killing the plant. It also affects the leaves, forming on them great 
numbers of small, warty galls in which it hides itself early in the season 
and breeds. On some varieties of grape it confines its attacks mainly to 
the leaves, and to such it is least injurious. These are usually smooth- 
leaved varieties, such as the Clinton, Herbemont and Taylor. The Dela- 
ware is seriously affected on both leaves and roots, but recovers itself 
better than most varieties. The Concord has woolly leaves and is not 
commonly much infested with galls, while its tough roots also resist well. 
Irrigation, where possible, and the application of lime, sulphur and ashes, 
although they will not exterminate the insect, serve to keep it somewhat in 
check, and aid the plant to recover from it injuries. 
Woolly Apple-Tree Louse. 
The woolly apple-tree louse (Hriosoma pyri, Fitch) is another very per- 
nicious species, affecting both leaf and root, and doing most damage under- 
ground, where, by sucking up the sap that should go to promote the growth 
of the tree and the fruit, it causes the leaves to turn yellow and the fruit to 
drop. Its punctures cause large, knotty swellings on the roots, from which 
rot soon sets in, and the tree perishes. This plant-louse is quite large—the 
full grown females being from :‘one-fifteenth to one-twelfth of an inch in 
length, and the wings expanding one-fifth of aninch. It is of a pale, purple 
