REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, 19 



bition of machinery and contrivances for applied remedies against 

 both fungi and insects that are destructive to cultivated plants. This 

 congress was held in October at Florence, and his excellency B. Gri- 

 maldi, the minister of agriculture, industry, and commerce for Italy, 

 very strongly urged me to have a representation of the discoveries 

 and mechanical ajjpliances that have been developed in the work of 

 this division, and to send a representative to take part in the discus- 

 sions of the congress to be held in connection with the exhibition. 

 The Entomologist was, in fact, appointed one of the jurors. An in- 

 telligent report of these appliances and tests would have been of great 

 value to this country, particularly as the more important devices, so 

 far as I can learn, are modifications of those which have been per- 

 fected in this Department. The last year's appropriation for the work 

 of the Entomological Division expressly prevents my taking advan- 

 tage of any such opportunity in a foreign country, and I am, unfort- 

 unately, powerless to meet such emergency. 



Ten thousand dollars of the appropriations to the division were 

 transferred to the new Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, and 

 this has necessitated a reduction of the working force of the Ento- 

 mologist. Although the possibilities for extended results are lessened 

 thereby, the division has accomplished much good work during the 

 year. 



The publications of the division have been, in addition to the an- 

 nual report of the Entomologist, the fourth report of the United States 

 Entomological Commission, Bulletins Nos. 9, 11, and 13, and a com- 

 plete report on insects affecting the orange. 



The first-named work comprises the final report on the c8tton-worm 

 and the boll-worm, by Prof. C. V. Riley. It is a volume of more 

 than 500 pages, and is illustrated by 64 plates in addition to the text 

 figures. There has been a large call for this volume from cotton 

 planters throughout the South, and it was fortunately published, after 

 much delay, at the beginning of a season in which the cotton-worm 

 appeared in great force in several of the cotton States. Bulletin No. 

 9 is a thoroughly revised edition of the manual of instructions in silk 

 culture, introducing many new figures and modifying the work in 

 the light of recent discoveries and methods. Bulletin No. 11 contains 

 detailed reports of experiments made by agents of the division in New 

 Jersey, Indiana, and Iowa, with many of the insecticides recommended 

 against insects injurious to garden crops. Bulletin No. 12 comprises 

 a long series of notes on the injurious insects of the season of 1885, 

 an article on the production and manufacture of buhach, the Califor- 

 nia insecticide, a cpntinuance of the work on forest insects, and ad- 

 ditional material on the periodical cicada. 



The report on insects affecting the orange has met with much favor 

 among orange grovf ers, and, although issued late in March, the edition 

 is already exhausted. The remedies recommended have come into 



