REPORT OF THE EXTOMOLOGIST. 137 



stances they are particularly fond of, or whattliey avoid, and at what 

 stage of their transformations they may be most readily found and de- 

 stroyed ; if the larvie infest stagnant water, let such pools be drained 

 and afterward sprinkled with fresh lime ; if they breed in the weeds or 

 grass iu-the angles of rail fences, the weeds should be cut and burned 

 when dry ; if they hybernate under bark of dead stumps, let all such 

 stumps be burned out before planting, for it must be observed that old 

 rail fences, stone walls, and decayed stumps are the very best nurseries 

 for noxious insects that could be invented, and any farmer may con- 

 vince himself of the fact by merely pulling off dead loose bark or look- 

 ing in the crevices of his loosely-built stone walls, protected, as they 

 generally are, by a tall growth of weeds on each side, and he will find 

 them swarming with noxious insects and larvn?, which, securely pro- 

 tected from the winter's frost and cold, hybernate in peace and quiet- 

 ness until the warmth of spring thaws them out, and induces them to 

 leave their comfortable quarters in order to deposit their eggs for the 

 coming season. 



Quick-lime plowed into the earth will free the soil from many larvce, 

 especially such as perform their metamorphoses under the soil, and, 

 when an insect has become so numerous as to endanger certain crops, 

 it would be advisable to discontinue planting such crops in the infested 

 neighborhood until the insect is, as it were, starved out, unless it is found, 

 from experience, that the insect, in such a case, can subsist upou other 

 plants, weeds, or grasses, until the same crop is again grown. Quassia, 

 aloes, larksi)ur, or stavesacre seed, china berries, and leaves, are all useful 

 in destroying certain insects, and should be experimented with by practi- 

 cal agriculturists, and the results made known through the medium 

 of the agricultural press. Borax, powdered, has been highly recom- 

 mended to drive- away cockroaches, «S:c., but with us, however, it has 

 totally failed. One -part of chloride of lime, mixed with half the quan- 

 tity of some fatty matter, put on a bandage and tied ai'ound the trunk 

 of trees, is said to i^revent insects from ascending. This, however, 

 would not last long, and might probably injure the tree, by running 

 down the bark when heated by the sun ; it would also prevent many 

 beneficial insects from ascending to feed upon such noxious ones, as 

 Aphides, &c. 



Carbolic soapsuds no doubt will destroy many root-eating larvjp, and 

 boiling hot vrater poured upon certain roots is said to kill the injurious 

 maggots, and yet not to injure the roots themselves. Might this not 

 be good, also, for the grapevine-root gall-louse so destructive to the 

 vineyards in France, and found in our "Western States ? It deserves a 

 trial at least. Salt strewed upon the surface, or plowed into the earth, 

 is greatly recommended for the destruction of certain insects, but 

 should be used with caution, as, if too much be used, the plants them- 

 selves would be destroyed. When operating for the destruction of the 

 perfect-winged insects themselves, it should first be ascertained if cer- 

 tain species are attracted by lights at night ; if so, multitudes might 

 be lured to their destruction by burning torches, or small fires made at 

 the proper season, when the insects are most numerous. If attracted 

 by sweets, they may be destroyed by placing boards covered with mo- 

 lasses or sirup, mixed with some poisonous substance, such as fly-stone 

 X)owdered, gray crude arsenic, Paris-green, &c. Glycerine is said to 

 combine well with arsenic, and might be tried. In all cases, however, 

 where deadly poisons are used, care should be taken to give due warn- 

 ing to children, by word of mouth, as v.-ell as by having the word 

 'poison marked on the boards used, for such as could read. , 



