BULLETIN NUMBER 23, DECEMBER, 1893. 89 



would be preferal^le to the ordinary soft soap. A good formula is as 

 follows : 



Potash lye, 1 pound ; fish oil, 3 pints ; soft water, 2 gallons. The 

 lye is dissolved in the water, and when Ijrought to the l)oiling point, the 

 oil is added and the l)atch is Ijoiled about two hours. Water is filled in 

 to make up the evaporation by l)oiling, and the result will l)e about 25 

 pounds of soap, which Avill make from 50 to 100 gallons of trunk wash. 



INSECTS PARTIALLY STUDIED AT THE STATION, 



DURING THE PRESENT YEAR. 



Since the first of July Mr. R. S. Lull, one of my assistants, has for 

 the most part made his headquarters at the station, with a view to study- 

 ing and experimenting on such insects as presented themselves in injur- 

 ious numbers or attracted particular attention at the station. Most of 

 his investigations are yet incomplete, ])ut the following notes, which are 

 based upon Mr. Lull's observations, are worth recording. 



THE TOBACCO FLEA-BEETLE. 



This little beetle {Epitrix parvula Fab.) did considerable damage 

 to the tobacco plants grown at the station by eating small holes in the 

 leaves, giving them an unsightly appearance. Anything affecting the 

 appearance of the leaf of tobacco naturally reduces materially its value 

 as a crop. The beetle is yellowish-brown in color and but 1.5 milli- 

 metres (about .06 of an inch) in length. It is one of the few insects of 

 economic importance the life-history of which has not been followed oat, 

 but this I hope to do in the near future. In the meanwhile, without 

 knowing anything of the habits of the larva, it will be difficult to protect 

 the tobacco crop from its injuries, since the ordinary poisonous insecti- 

 cides must not be used. Mr. Lull found that pyrethrum in powder, di- 

 luted with flour or road dust destroyed a large proportion of those beetles 

 which it touched, but the trouble is, as in the case of the Rose Chafer 

 and a number of other insects, other individuals quickly take the place 

 of those which are killed, and some other preventive must be found 

 with which to check the injuries of this particular species. 



THE TOBACCO SPHINX, OR HORN WORM. 



'"'" This well known insect i^Protoparce cdeus Hbn.) was also quite abun- 

 dant in the tol^acco fields at the station, and did considerable damage, 

 as it generally does in all parts of the country to the tomato. The life- 

 history of this species is well known, and there is nothing new to be as- 

 certained in reference to it. The eggs are about the size of a pin-head, 

 green in color, and laid singly on the undersides of the leaves. The larva 

 develops rapidly, is an enormous feeder, and late in the summer descends 

 into the ground, where it transforms to the pupa state, in which it re- 

 mains through the winter. Hand-picking is chiefly resorted to, especially 

 in tobacco fields, to keep this species in check, and a more rapid way of 

 working is to go through the field with a pair of shears and clip each 

 worm in two as fast as detected. Those which bear on their backs or 



