166 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[Kovember, 



fed oa some wild species of Solanum growing 

 there. It was my privilege during the latter 

 part of August of this year to spend a week 

 in this district, ■ and while there 1 traveled 

 fully one hundred miles through those can- 

 ons. Several species of wild Solannm grew 

 in abundance aliriost everywhere in the ad- 

 joining plains as well as in the canons, and 

 evpry opportunity was embraced of examin- 

 ing them, but in no instance could I detect 

 any evidence of the presence of the Colorado 

 potato beetle in any of its stages. Besides, I 

 saw several potato patches, and these also 

 seemed quite free fi'om any insect trouble. 

 This seemed to me not a little singular .in 

 view of the extremely prolific nature of the 

 insect. Can it be that it has migrated so com- 

 pletely as to leave over large areas no repre- 

 sentatives behind, or have its natural enemies 

 so increased as to almost annihilate the pest. 

 Our farmers here would, I am sure, gladly hail 

 the advent of either of these agencies should 

 it free them from this troublesome insect. 



Tlie question of the use of the most suitable 

 and economical poisons for the destruction of 

 injurious insects still attracts much attention, 

 and Paris green continues to head the list as 

 the most generally useful, notwithstanding 

 the efforts which have been made by interest- 

 ed parties to replace it by London Purple. 

 London Purple is an arsenical mixture, a 

 waste product which accumulates during the 

 manufacture of aniline dyes. Before its in- 

 troduction as an insect destroyer it bad no 

 commercial value ; on the contrary, the dye 

 makers were at considerable expensp and 

 trouble in getting rid of it as it accumulated. 

 Arsenic, which is the active ingredient in this 

 compound, is present in very vafiable propor- 

 tions, which is just what one might expect in 

 a waste product. Sometimes it forms less 

 than twenty per cent, of the mixture, while 

 other samples will contain more than forty 

 per cent. It is associated • chiefly with lime 

 and coloring matter. The arsenic present is 

 in a very fine state of division, and intimately 

 mixed with the lime and other ingredients, 

 forming a very fine powder. It is much more 

 soluble than Paris Green, and hence more 

 liable to scorch the foliage, while its very va- 

 riable strength makes it an uncertain com- 

 pound in its effects. For these reasons London 

 Purple is not likely to take the place of Paris 

 Green as an insectitude, which, when unadul- 

 -terated, is nearly uniform in its composition 

 and effects. An artificial mixture of arsenic 

 and lime of uniform strength and colored 

 could be supplied at about the same price,and 

 would be more reliable than London Purple, 

 but owing to the more ready solubility of the 

 arsenic in this form and its caustic character 

 it is apt, unless used with much care, to de- 

 stroy portions of the leaves on the plants to 

 which it is applied, making them appear as if 

 scorched or burnt. 



• Experiments have been carried on for the 

 past two seasons at the Agricultural College 

 at Lansing, Michigan, by Prof. A. J. Cook, 

 on the use of London Purple as a remedy for 

 the codling worm. Early in the summer 

 while the fruit was quite small some crab 

 apple trees were syringed thoroughly with 

 • London Purple mixed witli water, and it is 

 claimed that the poison which, when the 

 water has evaported forms a thin coating on 



the fruit either prevents the codling moth 

 depositing her eggs or else poisons the young 

 larvae as soon as they are hatched, the result 

 being the saving of a very large proportion of 

 the crop from injury, while other trees near 

 by not similarly treated bore very wormy 

 fruit. It is also said that, as the fruit ap- 

 proaches maturity, the most delicate chemi- 

 cal tests fail to show a trace of the poison. I 

 scarcely think that the experiments yet tried- 

 in this direction have been sufficiently extend- 

 ed to warrant any general conclusions being 

 based on them, and provided it were proven 

 that this remedy was a certain and safe one, 

 tlie popular prejudice against applying such 

 virulent poisons directly to tlie fruit we are to 

 eat would be so strong as to prevent the gen- 

 eral use of any such means. Indeed, were it 

 generally known that the apple growers of 

 any district were in the habit of applying 

 arsenic in any form directly to their fruit it 

 would interfere very seriously with their sales, 

 and it is doubtful if apples so treated would 

 find a ready market anywhere. 



It is well known that the seeds of certain 

 noxious weeds will sometimes lie dormant 

 in the soil for almost any number of years 

 awaiting a favorable oppovtunity for germi- 

 nating, but it is not so generally known that 

 the development of insect life is sometimes 

 similarly retarded. It has many times been 

 observed that a few individuals out of a large 

 brood of moths will remain in the chrysalis 

 state over one season and produce the perfect 

 insect the following year, thus remaining a 

 full year more in the dormant condition than 

 is usual, and instances are on record where 

 the perfect insects have escaped after three 

 years spent in this condition of torpor. Ke- 

 ceutly Prof. Biley, of Washington, has called 

 attention to a very remarkable case of retard- 

 ed development in the eggs of the destructive 

 Bocky Mountain locust, Galoptenus spretus. 

 These eggs were laid in 1876 on the grounds 

 of the Agricultural College at Manliattan, 

 -Kansas. While grading the ground around 

 the chemical laboratory in the autumn a 

 quantity of the eggs were buried some ten 

 inches below the surface, the covering mate- 

 rial being clay, old mortar and bits of stone, 

 and above this a plank sidewalk. On remov- 

 ing and regrading the soil last spring a num- 

 ber of these eggs were disinterred quite sound 

 and fresh-looking, and when exposed to 

 normal influences they readily hatched, so 

 that these locusts' eggs actually remained 

 nearly four years and a half in the ground un- 

 hatched, or tour years longer than is their 

 wont. How much longer they would have 

 retained their vitality under favorable condi- 

 tions of temperature and dryness is unknown. 

 This poiut has a very practical bearing and 

 deserves further investigation, not only in re- 

 ference to the eggs of this insect, but to those 

 of all injurious species whose eggs are de- 

 posited on or under the soil. 



The subsection of Entomology of the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science met this year at Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 where I had the honor of representing our 

 Society. A large number of distinguished en- 

 tomologists were present, and many useful 

 papers read and discussions held at the meet- 

 ings. - An, account of the proceedings will ap- 

 pear in our annual report. It having been 



decided to hold tlie next meeting of the 

 American Association in Montreal, I trust 

 tiiat our representative men in all depart- 

 ments of science will be present to greet with 

 a hearty welcome the distinguished scientists 

 from the United States and abroad, who will on 

 that occasion honor the Dominion with their 

 presence. I have strong hopes that the entomol- 

 ogists of Canada will turn out in good force. 



If the progress of a science is to be indi- 

 cated by its literature and the number of its 

 devotees, then entomology has made very 

 rapid progress within the^^last two or three 

 years. There are on this continent now near- 

 ly 500 hundred persons pursuing the study of 

 this important branch of natural history, and 

 during the past year a large number of origi- 

 nal papers have been published on the subject. 

 The Canadian Entomologist, the monthly 

 organ of our Society, continues to hold its 

 place in the front rank among the most nse- 

 ful periodicals in this connection, while clus- 

 tering around it now are "Psyche," the or- 

 gan of the Cambridge Entomological Club, 

 the "Bulletin," of the Brooklyn Entomologi- 

 cal Society, and last, though by no means 

 least, "Papilio, " a journal devoted exclusiye- 

 ly to lepidoptera and mainly to descriptions 

 of new species, which has now completed its 

 seventh number. All these are devoted ex- 

 clusively to entomology, and will be found of 

 great value to every entomologist. To these 

 must be added the valuable reports of the U. 

 S. Entomological Commission, whose good 

 work is still being continued; the annual re- 

 ports of the entomologist of the Department 

 of Agriculture at Washington, those of the 

 several State entomologists, the annual re- 

 port of our own Society, as well as a large 

 number of papers on the subject to be found 

 in the transactions and proceedings of all 

 Natural History Societies. There has also 

 appeared in the "Canadian Sportsman and 

 Naturalist," edited by William Couper, of 

 Montreal, some entornological items of special 

 interest to Canada entomologists. 



In my last annual address I referred to the 

 appointment by the Ontario Government of a 

 Special Commission to enquire into the agri- - 

 cultural resources of the Province, and the 

 progress and condition of agriculture therein. 

 In view of the important bearing of entomo- 

 logy on successful agriculture, the Govern- 

 ment were pleased to appoint your President 

 as one of the Commissioners. The report of 

 the Commission has since been compiled and 

 published, in which the insects injurious to 

 the farmer and fruit grower have been fully 

 dealt with; also tlie remedies suggested for 

 their destruction, and the beneficial insects 

 which prey upon them. The evidence relating 

 to the subject of insects and insectivorous 

 birds occupies 104 pages in the full report,and 

 61 pages in the condensed report, both of 

 which are adorned with many excellent illus- 

 trations. The eagerness with which these 

 pulilications have been sought after is indica- 

 tive of the estimation in which they are held 

 by the public. It would, I think, meet a 

 strongly felt want, if some arrangement were 

 made whereby this valuable work, so useful 

 to every farmer, might become accessible by 

 purchase to all who are seeking for it through 

 out the length and breadth of our Dominion. 

 —Sept. 26, 1881. 



