254 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIO^'ER OF AGRICULTURE. 



BGurcea, and after taking the evidence of Mesers. Cronly and Latham, have unani- 

 mously couie to the following conclusions: 



1st. That the time of year is such that, unless immediate action he taken, another 

 ■whole season will he lost, and the ravages of the pest greatly extended. 



2d. That in the south of the island, at least, the Carjmcapsa pomonella is limited in 

 its distrihution, and oliera a fair chance for its eradication if energetic steps are at 

 once taken. 



3d. That no individual effort, or continuation of the same, ■will he of any avail un- 

 less assisted hy legislative enactment. 



4th. That on the 1st Fehruary, 1860, your committee recommend there he appointed 

 an inspector or inspectors, whose duty it shall he to see that all diseased fruit is re- 

 moved from the orchard and destroyed. 



5th. That at the same time every tree in an infested garden must be carefully band- 

 aged and periodically examined, at intervals of not more than fourteen days, so that 

 any grubs that may have already escaped from the fruit-trees be then trapped and 

 destroyed. Later on in the year the trees to be cleared of loose old bark, and lime or 

 other grub-destroying ■wash applied. 



6th. To meet the necessary outlay, your committee propose that a tax of not exceed- 

 ing one penny per bushel per annum be levied ui>on all apples, pears, and plums, such 

 tax to be paid by the grower upon the net marketable product. 



7th. That if, after being -warned, any person refuse to remove and destroy diseased 

 fruit, and take other precautionary measures, it shall be done at the sole cost of the 

 occupier of the land. 



8th. That on this report being approved by Parliament, the same be embodied in a 

 bill. 



EDWARD L. CROWTIIER, Chairtnan. 



Committee Room, January 23, 1880. 



Tlie report as a wliole is one of considerable inteiest. We are rather 

 disappointed, however, to see some five pages devoted to the subject of 

 a wash for the codling moth, without the results of actual exi)eriments, 

 since it seems very improbable, from the known habits of the insect, 

 that anything in the nature of a wash applied to the trunk of the tree 

 will have the slightest effect upon its ravages. 



In this connection we should like to commend the active efforts which 

 have been made by the Michigan entomologists and by the Pomological 

 Society of that State to improve the quality of their apples by reducing 

 the ravages of the codling moth. It is stated that the reputation of 

 Michigan apples in the southwestern markets has greatly changed for 

 the better within the past year or two in consequence of these efforts. 

 The present year the society has offered premiums of $50 and $25 for 

 the best directed and most persistent efforts to destroy the insect, and 

 it is hoped that the offer will lead to many interesting and valuable re- 

 ports of experiments, and its results will help to show to a greater or 

 less extent the value of concerted action. 



The peach-tree borer {Aegeria exitiosa Say). — Observations made 

 last spring showed that upon May 10 many of the moths had already 

 issued, and were engaged in oviposition. The average length of the 

 egg: is .56'°'" (.02 inch). Its width is a little over one-half its length. 

 It is subelUpsoidal in form, and one end only is either squarely or some- 

 what obliquely truncate. Its color is a beautiful yellow-brown, and its 

 whole surface is so sculptured as to have the appearance of being laid 

 with irregularly shaped paving stones ; having just the appearauce of 

 what the histologist calls pavement epithelium. Each of the "slabs" 

 is covered with grooves of an irregular form. The eggs are deposited 

 singly and are stuck to the surface of the bark on their sides by a 

 gummy secretion. The female makes no effort to discover a crevice in 

 which to thrust the egg. One female was seen to deposit upwards of 

 twenty eggs upon different parts of the trunk of one tree, usually about 

 one or two feet from the surface of the ground, in the space of about 

 one hour. The young larvae when just hatched are very active and 



