Notes on the March Number. 253 



by ants. The others are filled with the traces of past borings by a dipterous 

 larva ; two specimens, dead and decayed, being found in situ. Enough is left of 

 them, however, to convince me of their identity with specimens received from 

 various parts of Eastern Massachusetts within the past two years. Never hav- 

 ing seen the insect in its imago stage, I cannot, of course, pronounce upon its 

 place, even generically. Dr. A. Fitch, of New York, describes, on page 252 of 

 his Second Report, an insect of similar habits, under the name oi Molobrus mali, 

 the apple-midge. The length of the fly is about .15 inch ; wings dull hyaline, 

 tinged with smoky color ; body and legs black ; abdomen ringed with yellow. 



If you find any small flie^ in the barrels or upon the windows of the room in 

 which the fruit is kept, and will preserve them for me in a dry vial, I can per- 

 haps discover the author of the ravages. 



Experiments will be necessary to discover the best means of prevention. 



F. G. S., for Editors. 



NOTES ON THE MARCH NUMBER. 



Mr. Huxnewell's notes upon "The New Conifers " is a very valuable contri- 

 bution, for which every lover of evergreens will feel grateful. I imported several 

 of the species he names, in 1862 ; and my experience with two of them has 

 been somewhat different from his. These are Retitiospora ericoides and Cu- 

 pressus Lavjsoniana. He says of the first, " It changes its color somewhat in 

 winter." With me, both of these species have every winter changed their color 

 so completely, that it is difficult to believe they are not entirely dead : yet they 

 have invariably recovered, and grown well the following season ; so that I now 

 regard them as perfectly hardy. I have now about two dozen Cupressus Lawso- 

 niana, averaging five feet in height ; and I agree entirely with all that Mr. Hun- 

 newell says of their beauty. 



Mr. Ridgely's remarks upon " The Culture of Grape-vines in Cities " reminds 

 me of a vine I used often to see in Philadelphia many years ago, which illus- 

 trates a mode in which the citizen may secure a crop of this delicious fruit even 

 under less favorable circumstances than Mr. Ridgely supposes. This vine grew 

 in a very small yard all paved with brick, and entirely hidden from sunlight ex- 

 cept for an hour or two in the morning. It had been trained up in tlie angle 

 between the house and the L, like a lightning-rod, a distance of sixty feet, with- 

 out a branch, and then covered an arbor built on top of the house, where, re- 

 mote from dust or thieves, it annually ripened a luxurious crop of fruit. 



Finally, touching squirrels. I have quite a number of red squirrels about 

 my premises, and have always protected them so far as lay in my power, as their 

 graceful movements and apparent exuberance of life are always attractive. An 

 incident which occurred a year or two since, however, revealed to me an unex- 

 pected trait in their character, which tended to impair my confidence in the 

 innocence of their habits. I saw one run across a road and up an apple-tree 

 within a few rods of me, and the next moment was startled by the fearful cries 



