INSECTS AHD DISEASES. 139 



may be found useful, but with only limited confidence in 

 their efficiency or utility. A cheap, convenient, and cer- 

 tain remedy for curculio is a desideratum most earnestly 

 wished for, but a blessing not yet conferred. 



THE ROSE BUG. 



For many years the common Rose Bug (Macrodac- 

 tylus subspinosus) has been a well-known and much- 

 feared enemy of the peach in some sections of the 

 country ; but it was not till the present summer of 1887 

 that it appeared formidable upon the Peninsula. This 

 season, however, the rose bugs have appeared in some 

 orchards in vast numbers, and have created great and 

 just alarm among growers. Their favorite food seemed 

 to be the leaves of the plum and cherry trees, which they 

 ate voraciously, leaving the trees as brown and dry as if 

 scorched by a fire. But the plum and cherry trees did not 

 afford sufficient food and they then attacked other fruits, 

 and the peach trees seemed to be their next choice. Their 

 numbers were absolutely incredible. They covered the 

 leaves and also the fruit. I have been assured by trust- 

 worthy growers that they have counted as many as thirty 

 on a single leaf. When they alight on a leaf or peach 

 they remain until they have extracted every bit of sap 

 from it, leaving it dry and shriveled. Of course this 

 means utter destruction to the crop, and great injury to 

 the trees. These insects appeared about the last of May 

 and continued for about two weeks, when they disappeared. 

 So far no sufficient remedy has been proposed. In an- 

 swer to inquiries made at the Agricultural Department, 

 Washington, the Entomologist writes : " The Rose Bug 

 is one of the most difficult insects which we have to fight, 

 as it lives in the larva state under ground where it can- 

 not be reached, and as the adult insect flies so readily and 

 feeds on so many different plants there is. no way to 

 fight it except by the expenditure of time and trouble." 

 He recommends spraying the trees with a mixture of 

 Paris green or London purple, using one pound of poison 



