20 'REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



quite general use, and there is still a continual demand for the report, 

 a new edition of ■which I hope may soon be issued. 



Several new and important investigations have been entered upon. 

 The cottony cushion scale insect has for many years done great dam- 

 age to orange, lemon, olive, and other fruit trees in California, into 

 which State it was introduced nearly twenty years ago from Aus- 

 tralia, while many other scale insects seriously affect California horti- 

 culture. In consequence, two agents were sent to Los Angeles early 

 in the spring, and have continued through the summer, making an 

 extensive series of experiments with remedies. 



At the request of many prominent planters of the Lower Missis- 

 sippi Valley an investigation has been begun into the habits of and 

 remedies for the Southern buffalo-gnat, an insect which almost annu- 

 ally, and particularly in seasons of overflow, causes great loss of life 

 among stock in that region. Three agents have visited infested local- 

 ities at different times during the season, and the life history of the 

 insect has been made out and will shortly be published. An investi- 

 gation has also been begun upon the insects affecting garden crops in 

 Florida; and agents in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and IN'ebraska 

 are studying the insects of their respective regions and experiment- 

 ing with remedies. 



The correspondence on economic entomology has been more ex- 

 tended than ever, and nearly three thousand letters of inquiry have 

 been answered. This increase is due not only to the fact that agri- 

 culturists take a constantly increasing interest in the work of the 

 division, but also to the fact that the season has been particularly 

 favorable tB the increase of many of our most injurious insects. The 

 chinch-bug and the Hessian-fly have done considerable damage in 

 several of the Western grain-growing States. Plant lice of all kinds 

 have increased enormously, particularly in the Northeast. The hop- 

 plant louse alone has damaged the hop crop of New York State to 

 tlie extent of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Entomologist 

 visited the hop fields in September and made a number of important 

 observations, which will lead to practical results. The shade trees of 

 the ^irincipal cities of the Atlantic coast have suffered severely from 

 the attacks of the fall web-worm and other hairy caterpillars, which 

 the English sparrow will not touch. The work of this insect was 

 especially noticeable at the capital on the avenues of trees, which 

 form such a beautiful feature of the city. The Department has al- 

 ready published, as one of the bulletins of the Entomological Divis- 

 ion, full directions how to protect trees from injury of this kind, and 

 it is to be regretted that the District commissioners were not in a po- 

 sition to follow the practical recommendations thus made. 



Work has been continued at the apicultural station in Illinois, and 

 some valuable results accomplished. Most improvement in bee cult- 

 ure in the past has been in the direction of mechanical appliances 



