256 REPORT + OF *THESCOMMISSIONER: OF 2AGRICULTURE. 
Mr. John May, the gardenerincharge of Mr. Slaughter’s rose-growing establishment at Madison, N. J. 
which is probably the largest in the vicinity of New York, has given great attention to the rose-bug, his 
roses for four or five years being much injured by it, but by persistent efforts in destroying the perfect 
insect has now got entirely clear of it, so that his roses are now perfect models of health and vigor. He 
says that heis ‘‘ convinced that no substance will destroy the insect in the larva. state withont at the same 
time injuring the plant.” This has been the experience of all that we have heard of who have tried any 
such remedies, and the only advice that is given when there are indications that the plant is affected at 
the roots is to dig it up at once, or if grown in a pot throw it out, for you may just as well hope for health 
in a patient in the last stages of pulmonary consumption as to expect health from a plant with the rose- 
grub feeding on its roots. The symptoms of the grub being at the roots are a partial stagnation of 
growth, weak pale shoots, and generally barren of flower-buds. If these symptoms show in anything 
like a marked degree, if the plant is dug up and shaken, the insects in less or more numbers are almost 
certain to be found. The remedy is to carefully search for and destroy the perfect insect that is to be 
found under the leaves; these are by no means so numerous as the grubs, evidently showing that many 
of these in the larve stage die, or at least do not come to the surface. Complete destruction of the 
mature insect, which is easily accomplished by careful and persistent searching, is a certain remedy for 
GHoeleyilage sees ee 
An extensive florist from the interior of New York State sent me samples, the other day, of a grub 
that had been eating the roots of his geraniums, hibiscus, and dracenas, which, on examination, proved 
to be identical with the rose-bug maggot. 
A study of the habits of this insect which I have been able to make 
through the courtesy of Mr. Henderson, who has sent abundant material 
to the department, enables me to add to his excellent account some facts 
that are both interesting and of practical value. The most serious injury 
is done by the larve, which feed principally upon the more tender root- 
lets and thus attack the plant in its most essential parts. 
I have had a quite healthy rose bush totally destroyed in three weeks’ 
time by about three dozen of the larve which were placed in the pot 
containing it. 
The parent beetles (Pl. VII, Fig. 2, c, d), like most other snout-beetles, 
live for a considerable time, as I have kept them in confinement for 
nearly three months. They are nocturnal in habit, being quite active 
and feeding only after dusk. They shun the light during day-time and 
hide under the leaves or cling tightly to the branches or in some fork 
near the base of the plant, always in such position as not easily to be 
observed. They drop to the ground, draw up their legs, and “ play 
’possum,” remaining motionless for some time and looking very much 
like a small lump of dry earth, the color adding greatly to the resem- 
blance. This habit of simulating death upon disturbance is common to 
many other insects of this family. They feed upon the leaves, but do 
more injury by severing them than by the amount of foliage consmmed. 
The eggs (Pl. VII, Fig. 2, e) are laid in flattened batches consisting of 
several contiguous rows and each batch containing from 10 to 60. The 
individual egg is smooth, yellow, ovoid, and about 1™. in length. The 
female shows a confirmed habit of secreting her eggs, which are thrust 
between the loose bark and the stem, especially at the base just above 
the ground. In the twenty-odd batches which I have examined they 
have invariably been thrust either between the loose bark as above 
described, or into any other crevice that could be found; as, for instance, 
that formed by some loose paper around the edge of the bell-glass in 
which some of my experiments were made. More rarely they are laid 
between the earth and the main stem just at the surface of the ground. 
The eggs are so firmly glued together and to the place of deposit that 
they are not easily seen, and are with extreme difficulty detached. 
These eggs require about a month to hatch, and the new-born larva, 
which is of a pale yellowish eolor, with light brown mouth-parts, is quite 
active, and immediately burrows into the ground, and acquires very soon 
after a bluish hue. Just how long this larva (PI. VI, Fig. 2, d) requires 
