296 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



First Biennial Report of the Department of Disertses of the 

 Eye at the Central Free Dispensary of the District of Col- 

 umbia. By Dr. Swan M. Burnett, Surgeon in charge. 8vo. 

 pp. 8. Washington, D. C. 1880. From the Author. 



Annales de la Societe Entomologique de Eelgique. Vols. 

 20.21,22. 1877-8-9. Bruxelles. From the Secretary. 



The Eleventh Annual Report of the American Museum of 

 Natural History, Central Park, New York. 8vo. pp. 32. New 

 York, 1880. From the Curator. 



Bulletin de la Society Centrale d'Agriculturc etdesComices 

 Agricoles du Department de 1' Herault. 65me, annee. 

 MontpcUier, 1878. From the Society. 



Revision of the Genus Pinus, and Description of Pinus 

 Elliottii. By Dr. George Engelmann. 4lo. pp. 29. 3 Plates. 

 St. Louis, Mo., 1880. From the Author. 



Annual Report of the Wisconsin Geological Survey, for the 

 year 1879. By T. C. Chamberlin. 8vo. pp. 72. Madison, 

 Wis., 1880. From the Author. 



Mittheilungen der Schweizerlschen Entomologischen Ges- 

 ellschaft. Vol. V, Heft No. 10. April 1880. Schaflfhausen. 

 From the Publisher. 



Extracts from Correspondence. 



Uselessness of Yeast Ferment. — According 

 to your directions I have been experimenting 

 with yeast ferment on Boll Worms and Cabbage 

 Worms : it has had no visible effect on either. 

 I tried it also on Aletia without effect. 



I experimented yesterday on Aletia and Heli- 

 othis with extract of Pyrethrum, diluted, 40 parts 

 water to one of extract. The result was that the 

 small worms and about half of the large ones 

 were killed. A larger proportion of Heliothis 

 escaped than of Aletia. — R. W. Jones, Oxford, 

 Miss. 



No R. M. Locusts in Nebraska. — There has 

 been no flight of C. spntus in Western Nebraska 

 this season. I have not seen half a dozen indi- 

 viduals all summer. This Post is located about 

 120 miles north-west from the Loupe country, 

 and is a good point for observation. — W. L. Car- 

 penter, Fort Niobrara, Neb., Oct., 5, 1S80. 



Pyrethrum on Cabbage and Cotton Worms. 

 —My experiments with the Pyrethrum Powder 

 have generally been satisfactorj', whether ap- 

 plied in a dry state or diluted in water. I tried 

 the powder, in a dry state, at the rate of half an 

 ounce to one hundred square feet planted in 

 cabbages, which were infested with the larvse of 

 Pieris rapcc, and the worms were entirely de- 

 stroyed or driven from the plants ; not only this, 

 but the butterflies ceased to visit the powdered 

 cabbages, and resorted to the turnips aud mus- 

 tard. My experiments with the powder on the 

 cotton plant were most gratifying, until the pro- 

 portion used was less than one-quarter of a 

 pound to the acre, and when the worms were 

 more than half grown. When the worms were 

 very small the least possible quantity of the 

 powder seemed to exterminate them. I have not 

 been able to see whether the powder tends to 

 repel the moths of Aletia, as I am sure it repels 

 the butterflies of Pieris raps ; and yet one ex- 

 periment, made by me, may indicate that the 

 powder is offensive to the moths of Aletia, for 



they failed to feed upon persimmons sprinkled 

 with Pyrethrum Powder, while they never failed 

 to seek and feed with avidity upon persimmons 

 sprinkled with cobalt, arsenic, Paris green and 

 London purple. They also refused to feed upon 

 persimmons poisoned with cyanide of potas- 

 sium. — J. F. Bailey, Marion, Ala., Oct., 10, l88o. 



Yeast Ferment for Cotton Worms. — I have 

 tried many experiments with yeast and beer (a 

 detailed description of which will be sent you), 

 without any beneficial results so far as I can see. 

 Both diluted yeast and beer attracted many 

 insects, some of which, the wasps and yellow- 

 jackets, attacked and carried off many of the 

 cotton worms. The application of yeast and 

 beer did indeed seem to inconvenience the 

 worms, but no injur)' to their health, or diminu- 

 tion in their feeding was perceptible ; nor were 

 their numbers perceptibly lessened, except bv 

 the predatory insects named. — J. F. Bailey. 



Pyrethrum in the Garden. — Prof. J. P. Stelle 

 writes from San Marcos, Texas, as follows : 



Two weeks ago Mr. J. V. Smith, the leading 

 market gardener of this place, complained to 

 me that he found it impossible to get a stand of 

 turnips on account of the work of the flea-beetle 

 immediately after the plants were through the 

 ground, and also that the "green worm" and 

 the harlequin or "spotted bug" were both at 

 work ruining his cabbage crop. I gave him a 

 small quantity of Pyrethrum Powder for test, 

 and the annexed letter received from him to-day 

 sets forth the result ; 



San Marcos, Texas, Oct. 11, 1880. 



Prof. J. P. Stei.i.e, — Dear Sir : The Pyreth- 

 rum Powder which you kindly furnished me I 

 put to careful lest with the following results : I 

 diluted it with wheat flour at the rate of five pans 

 of flour to one part of Pyrethrum. This mixture 

 I dusted over my cabbage and young turnips 

 with extreme lightness, according to your direc- 

 tions. It enlirel)- cleared the plants of insects. 

 The flea-beetles immediately disappeared from 

 my young turnips and gave me no further trou- 

 ble. The green worms on my cabbage were 

 killed — I found large numbers of them dead — 

 while the spotted bug promptly took with a leav- 

 ing, I found none of them dead, but not one has 

 been seen on my cabbage since I dusted it with 

 the mixture. — J. V. Smith. 



Does the Baltimore Oriole feed on Dory- 

 phora? — Can any of your readers inform me if 

 their observation confirms the statement made to 

 me by a friend interested in ornithology and 

 entomology, that the Baltimore Oriole lives and 

 and feeds it young on the Potato Beetle? This 

 gentleman told me that he had hesitated about 

 planting potatoes in his garden, until he one day 

 observed that a pair of these birds had built their 

 nest close by, when he at once decided to plant, 

 fully trusting, he said, to them to save his po- 

 tatoes, which they did. He added that two 



