85 



In spite of the enviable fertility of the soil, which pernaits the orathering of the 

 crops in less than three months, farmers can only receive a reward for their lal)or 

 and sacrifice by the immediate selling; of the crop as soon as harvested, l)ecause it 

 qnickly becomes infested by the weevil, which in a few days renders it useless. 



For the prevention of thisdamaije the Department has assisted the aojricnlturists to 

 make the following experiment: 



When the corn is harvested and to be gathered into tlie storehouse, the grain is 

 sprinkled to a height of 12 to 15 inches and then covered l)y a layer, nearly covering 

 it entirely, of the sawdust of cedar mixeil with a little salt (about iialf a gallon), fol- 

 loweil by a thick layer of maize, tlien by another thick covering of the cedar dust and 

 a little salt, continuing the same process. 



Tins author jiresents the difficulty, in the practical outcome, of producing a flavor 

 which is disagreeabk^ to the animals and leaves them in a condition unfit for the 

 market. 



BEETLES INJURIOUS TO HEKBARIUM FUNGI. 



We rocoived during- March, li>03, throuoh the kindness of Prof. 

 T. D. A. Cockerell, from \V. (', Stiirgis, some interesting informa- 

 tion in regard to injury by certain species of beetles to a collection of 

 fungi and m^'cetozoa. Professor Sturgis, writing from Coloradt) 

 Springs, Colo., states that his collection of mycetozoa has l)een much 

 bothered by the attacks of small beetles which feed mostly upon 

 spores, and especially of the Stemonitaceie. He complains that some 

 most beautiful and copious specimens were reduced to nothing ])ut 

 sticks and a powdery mass of black excrement within a period of a 

 few weeks l)y these pests. Among tho insects troubl(\s<)me to his 

 plants are the following: 



ArrhenopJita Irlem^v't^ Ol. Injured Stemonitis, and was alone. 



Sph'nulitii amer!c(iniis Lee, veiT commonly met and destructive. 



LlodiK (>l>!<oJet<( Horn., also concerned in injur}'. 



BcEocera (?) sp., also concerned in injur}'. 



Professor Sturgis states that these beetles operate after the speci- 

 mens have been dried and placed in the herbarimn; that they prefer the 

 specimen to the wood as food, and that their depredations are almost 

 exclusively confined to the Stemonitis, Comatricha, and Lamprcderma, 

 genera whose species often show a dense tufted habit peculiarly 

 susceptible to attack. 



A fifth species, presumably a Cioid from the description, is mentioned 

 as the principal insect enemy to the specimens which have been 

 considered. 



A WEST INDIAN FRUIT-TREE BORER. 



June 8, 1903, we received a conmnmication from Mr. Bernabe San- 

 chez Adan, Central Senado, Las Minas, Cuba, with accompanying 

 specimens of the Bostrychid beetle, Apate carmelita Fab., which was 

 reported to be destroying orange, plum, and almond orchards. The 

 beetles were described as boring from the outside seeking the core, 

 which they readily attacked, the trees perishing in a short time. By 



