272 



servation that they were all goue, when I asserted that I could catch 100 of them if he 

 wished them. He said that I could not do it, so when I got home I began catching^ 

 them and took the above number and gaA'e over. But a friend of mine, Mr. A. Van 

 Sicleu, a market gardener, continued to kill them on his vines, and he told me that as 

 near as he could judge he killed 500 more before they ceased coming out. The female 

 after she issues from the ground, which usually occurs about 10 o'clock a. m., does 

 not have any connection with the male until the evening, as I have never found them 

 paired through the day. After pairing the female does not commence to lay her eggs 

 till the second day. 



Prof. Smith says they lay the eggs at the bottom of the vine, even on the leaves. 

 The larva on coming out seeks a suitable place and goes to work ; if in case it falls 

 from the vine it crawls about until it finds another, when it immediately goes to work, 

 which accounts, in my opinion, for the greater number being found at the root of 

 the vines. But I have found them in the vine a long distance from the root, six or 

 seven feet in some cases. If every egg was laid in the proper place (and the female 

 lays some 150 or more) there would not be a single vine come to perfection ; as it, is a 

 being many of them are lost by tailing from the vine and dying of starvation, or by 

 great eaten by the ants. Prof. Smith says that to eradicate them you must crush the- 

 eggs by rubbing, which would be a very laborious process, as it would necessitate 

 going over the vines a great number of times. I consider it far jireferable to kill the 

 adult insect, which may be done very readily after 5 p. m. or before 7 a. m., as be- 

 tween these hours the insects are quite torpid. They will always be found sitting 

 on the upper side of the leaf (I have never found one under) and generally near the 

 junction of the leaf and the stalk. Any one may know them by their big red hind 

 legs. By placing one hand under the leaf and moth and striking it with the other 

 the moth may readily be killed. I had no trouble in placing the cyanide bottle over 

 them in that manner, and even when I made a miss of it the moth would fall to the 

 ground and I would get it there. As they become quite torpid on the ap^n'oach of 

 evening and do not become active until the sun shines warm again, it is useless to 

 seek them in the bright sunshine. I have also caught them on cloudy or rainy days. 



As the farmers do not plant the Hubbard or Boston squash for winter use until 

 July, I would advise the planting of a couple of rows of Avhite squash early in the 

 spring. One on each side of the ground to be i)lanted later on, and as they would 

 be quite grown by the time the moths began to come out and as they naturally 

 seek the largest vines it would enable the farmer to catch them without having tO' 

 go over the whole patch, while the other vines were small, but later on he would 

 have to go over the whole patch. One of my farmer friends tried it this summer 

 and found it a great success, having the best crop he ever had, scarcely losing a. 

 vine. I would also advise the burning of the vines in the fall after becoming dry, 

 as some of the larva», especially the later ones, make their cocoons in the vines, but 

 the earlier ones invariably go into the earth, about one inch deep, and if left undis- 

 turbed would come out in June, but the farmer in plowing turns them under sa 

 much deeper that it takes them much longer to work their way to the top of the 

 ground, where I have found many of the vacant pupa skins sticking half way out. — 

 [J. V. D. Walker, New York, December 23, 1891. 



Where are the Eggs of the Clover Hay--worni laid? 



The theory advanced by Prof. Webster in regard to the Clover Hay-worm that 

 "the eggs may be dei^osited on the plants in the field and the larvte thus be drawn 

 to the stack or mow, " is not corroborated by my experience of the present season. 

 On June 15 and 17 I mowed clover, and on the latter date put one load in a barn. 

 Being interrupted by rain nothing more was done, except to dry out the wet hay, 

 until the 22d when it was put in stacks in the field where it grew. On the 23d the re- 

 mainder, amounting to several tons was mown, and on the 2-lth was hauled to another 

 barn. Within the present week I have carefully examined the hay in both barns and 



