1'^ 



THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



pupa' found in these ' Joint-worm' straws, and con- 

 eequently that they must be, not gall-makers, but 

 parasites, like all other Chalcis flies whose Natural 

 History is accurately known. Whether that pupa 

 is the pupa of a Gall-gnat, or of a Gall-moth, or of 

 a Saw-fly, or of a Gall-fly, can be readily and cer- 

 tainly determined from the simple inspection of a 

 single good specimen either dead or alive. But the 

 particular genus and species to which the insect 

 belongs, can only be found out by actually breed- 

 ing the living pupa to the perfect state. For these 

 two purposes I most earnestly solicit the gentleman 

 in Cobourg, or the Editor of the Canada Farmer, 

 to mail me immediately a few specimens of the 

 pupaj spoken of in the above extract and the flies 

 bred from them, packed in any small, stout, paste- 

 board box in cotton wool, so that they may not 

 rattle about and get broken on the road ; and so 

 soon as Spring opens and the supposed Joint-worm 

 galls have nearly got their growth, to mail me every 

 three or four weeks, enclosed in oiled silk to pre- 

 vent their drying up, a fresh supply of them, roots 

 and all if practicable — say a good large handful at 

 a time — until I notify him to stop, which I engage 

 to do as soon as ever I have attained my object. 

 This may seem unnecessary trouble and expense ; 

 Dut it is absolutely necessary for the end which we 

 all of us have in view. In order to breed Gall- 

 gnats with success, it is essential to have fresh galls 

 from time to time; for by no methodyknown to 

 me — and I have tried dozens of different methods — 

 can these delicate insects be kept alive any length 

 of time in the Breeding-vase. I do not know what 

 ar(? the regulations of the Canada Post-office ; but 

 matter such as the above, provided there is no writ- 

 ing whatever but the Address, passes through our 

 TI. S. Post-office, when marked ' Seeds and Cut- 

 tings,' for a few cents. If sent by Express, they 

 must be prepaid ; oijd by that mode of conveyance 

 would do b(>gt packeu' in a little damp moss in a 

 tight tin vessel. If, as is possible but not very pro- 

 bable, the pupae referred to above are merely those 

 of the common Hessian Fly, I can immediately 

 recognize the fact from specimens of this year's 

 growth. And in that case it will not, of course, be 

 necessary to send fresh specimens next spring. 



" As it is always best to have two strings to your 

 bow, and as the Joint-worm is common in several 

 of the Atlantic States, I should also feel obliged to 

 any person resident in those States who can supply 

 me with specimens in the manner spoken of above. 

 It is a positive disgrace to the Agriculturists of this 

 country, that the Natural History of an insect, 

 which has destroyed already millions of dollars' 

 worth of their crops, should be so imperfectly 

 known, that nobody can tell except by guess-work 

 bow, when and where to attack the offender, and 

 nobody can even say for certain who the offender 

 is. But can we wonder at this, when there are only 

 one or two States out of the thirty-six, which tlunk 

 it worth while to maintain a State Entomologist? 

 And when, among nineteen-twentieths even of well- 

 educated persons, the term ' Bug-hunter' is a term 

 of reproach and ridicule ? 



" The question proposed to be hereby solved is 

 one, not of mere theoretical interest, but of real, 

 practical, doUars-and-cents utility. Proceeding on 

 the hypothesis of the Chalcis flies being the real 

 authors of the 'Joint-worm' swellings, and know- 

 ing that the great majority of them stay in the 

 butts of the straw through the winter. Dr. Fitch 

 has recommended burning the straw and the stub- 

 ble to destroy them j and his advice has been 

 adopted, as we saw above, by the Editor of the 

 Canada Farmer. But if, as I think is not at 

 all improbable, the real originators of the disease 

 come out into the perfect state in the spring or 

 summer, and the Chalcis flies, which mostly stay in 

 the straw through the winter, are parasitic upon 

 these others, and are, therefore, our friends in.stead 

 of our enemies ; burning the straw and the stubble 

 would be making war upon our own benefactors. 

 I may be wrong; but I cannot help believing that 

 these poor, slandered, little Chalcis flies have good 

 ground for suing Dr. Fitch for defamation of cha- 

 racter, and that they will, beyond a doubt, if they 

 only know enough to commence suit, recover most 

 exemplary damages from him." 



Rock Island, Illinois, Nov. 4, 1865. 



TO ADVEBIISEBS. 



An intelligible means of communicating with the 

 Farmers and Agriculturists of this country is offered 

 by the advertising columns of this Bulletin to any 

 one who has matters of business to bring to their 

 speedy notice. The circulation is large and increas- 

 ing, since the Bulletin supplies a want which, we 

 are assured, has been long felt by all of our intelli- 

 gent Fiirmers, and of which we have ample proof 

 in the number of letters we are receiving from all 

 parts of the country from Farmers desirous of ob- 

 taining the paper regularly. 



While we are anxious to carry our enterprise on 

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 the work. Hence the Farmers themselves, who 

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 bringing our offers for Advertisements to the notice 

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, To Wholesale Merchants and Manufacturers in 

 large cities our columns offer strong inducements, 

 since we are well assured that, in view of our large 

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A liberal discount will be allowed to annual and 

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As soon as our receipts warrant the additional 

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