1904.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 107 



tioii. The result was that the hay crop, though hitc, was 

 but little art'ccted by insects ; and similar results were more 

 or less evident with nearh' all crops, as regards their insect 

 foes. 



In a few cases, however, these weather conditions Averc 

 favorable to insect life. The i)lant lice, which are usually 

 destroA'ed in large numbers by cold spring rains, were this 

 year almost entirely unchecked, and, increasing rapidly, did 

 much injury to trees and plants already sufl'ering from the 

 lack of rain. The damage caused by plant lice was particu- 

 larly noticeable on fruit stock, elms and maples, many of 

 which suffered severely ; and even when the heavy rains 

 came later, destroying myriads of the lice, so many were 

 present that large numbers sui'vived, thus continuing the in- 

 jury to more than an ordinary amount till quite late in the 

 fall. 



The spring weather also seemed to be unusually favorable 

 for root maofo-ots of various kinds, the onion mao^o-ot caus- 

 ing a larire amount of loss to the onion ori'owers in the Con- 

 necticut valley in particular, while the work of the cabbage 

 maggot was seen everywhere. During the year more in- 

 quiries were received by this division about maggots than 

 during the preceding eight 3'ears taken together. 



The apple-tree tent-caterpillar was more abundant last 

 spring than for a number of years, but whether the peculiar 

 season has had the effect of destroying these insects suffi- 

 ciently to prevent their appearance in large numbers in 1904 

 cannot now be determined. 



The elm-leaf beetle began the season actively, and by 

 May 21 their egg clusters were very abundant everywhere, 

 but })articularly on those trees which were not treated in 

 1902. Later in the season, however, their work was less 

 noticeable than usual, and, in fact, there were many places 

 where spraying seemed unnecessar}^ Whether the nature 

 of the season or factors yet undiscovered were the cause of 

 their slight importance is not known. 



The San Jose scale has increased ra})idly during the year, 

 wherever it occurs. Crawling young were found last spring 

 on June 9, nearly two weeks earlier than the year before, 



