331 



Grasshopper Outlook in California for 1892. 



We were visited by •rnisshoppcrs in this vicinity last y«^ar and niucli daniajje was 

 doue by them. We should very much like to kmiw whether there is a probability 

 of their being with us another year or not. — [C. M. SilA'a& Son, California, February 



16. im2. 



Rki'LY. — ^ ' ' The sul)ject of grasshoi)per damage in your State was investi- 

 gatt'd last year by an agent of this Division, under instructions. The probabilities 

 favor a decided decrease over tlie damage of last season. The natural enemies of the 

 locust were reported as lieing ])rescnt in considerable numbers, and the i)roba.bilitie8 

 iire tliat we will have a season c()mi)arable to that of 188(5, when, after the very severe 

 locust year of 188.5, almost no damage was done. — [February 23, 1892.] 



Loss from Grain Weevils in Texas — The Bisulphide of Carbon Remedy, 



For many years in succession I had my corn in the bin more or less ruined by wee- 

 vils. From my own exjjerience in this line, and what I know from other sources, I 

 should judge that there is a« annual loss of over a million of doll urn from weevils 

 in Texan alone. 



Last fall, in putting up my corn, I placed two open bottles containing bisulphide of 

 <!arV)on about 4 feet apart on the door of the bin. The mouths of these bottles were 

 covered with a single layer of cheese-cloth, and each hottle covered with an old 

 broken box. The corn was thrown on these boxes and the bin filled to its utmost 

 capacity. 



The result of this experiment was highly successful. What live weevils were 

 admitted from the field were destroyed, and none further appeared. Thus at a cost 

 of .^O cents, with very little troulde, 1 etil'ectually protected about .500 bushels of corn 

 against the weevils. Another feature about this experiment is that I have noticed 

 neither mouse nor rat in the bin, nor any traces of them, which was not the case 

 before, for in previous years they too had done great damage to the corn. — [G. P. 

 Hackeuberg, M. D., Texas, January 28, 1892. 



Addition of Lime to the Arsenical Spray. 



* '^ "^ The first application to my apples was made when the apples were about 

 the size of cherries, with blossom end erect, using London puri>leinthe proportion of 

 4 ounces to 50 gallons of water, to which was added aliout 6 or 8 pounds of slaked 

 lime. The second was made about two weeks later and the third in three weeks, just 

 before harvest, the last solution containing one-half pound London purple to 50 gal- 

 lons of water and about 10 pounds lime. As to results, our apples were practically 

 free from worms, and in the many bushels which we have used in the past winter but 

 one wormy apple has been found. Before ])icking time an examination of the trees 

 showed that on the unsprayed trees fully .50 per cent were wormy, while on the sprayed 

 those which were wormy were very few, and these all fell off in the fall. The trees 

 retained their leaves late in the fall and the fruit was very free from the green fun- 

 gous growth which affects the apple in this section. The two last results I attribute 

 to the large quantity of lime used, the leaves looking as if whitewashed after dry- 

 ing. No such perfect and fair fruit was raised in our immediate section as my own. — 

 [E. P. Carroll, jr., Pennsylvania, Fel)ruary 22, 1892. 



Physianthus vs. the Codling Moth. — A Disclaimer. 



* * * I note your reference on page 98 of your Annual Rei)ort for 1887 to Physi- 

 anthus. My connection with the matter was, however, misuiulerstood by most of 

 the newspaper people who wrote on the matter. A friend of mine residing at Wan- 

 ganui sent me some seeds of the Physianthus, stating that he believed that it would 

 be useful by catching the Codling Moth, and asked me to distribute the seeds among 



