PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUR. 53 



in p^roat (jnantitics. NCillicr my I'alli-r nr iiiyscir all.iw a liinl tt^br killed 

 on (»ui" ]>i"i.'iiii.st's. Ailjiiiuiit'tl. 



Jiuiv \V. CiiAMUKKS, Sri-nianf. 



June 1, 1864. 

 Mr. Nathan C. Ely in tlio cliair. 



Insi:<^t.s Destructive to Strawberries. 



Ml-. 1). 11. Cil-s Mcmplii.s, Midi., writes: 



" I (MK-ltiso you some insects tliat are dcstidyiiij;- my sd-awboirics, also 

 some leaves of the plants t(» show their ravaj^es. Will llie Club iuroiin us 

 Tfrhat tlu-y are, ami a'lso a reinetly, if there is one?" 



I>i-. Trimhle, State Eiitoinolog-ist of Xew Jersey — This appears to be a 

 new pe^t. I think it is luiknown in this vicinity. It appears to be a beetle 

 of till' same g'enns (if the ciirctilio, tlionj;-h not half as larg-e. I see by the 

 jilaiits that itcatslmles in the leaves and would probably so destroy the 

 fujiage as to ruin the crop where the insect is very abundant. As a j^encral 

 rule, insects in their perfected state do not cat; this class do. Here is a 

 specimen of tin? aspara;:;ns beetle and its work. Look at this stalk, studded 

 full of ejTg's, set in endwise. I find the best remedy fur these insects is 

 poultry. A hen and chickens would destroy' an immense number of them. 

 The b<'st remedy a_u;ainst all kinds of insects is to encourage the increase 

 <if binis. I have been making careful examinations this summer of the 

 cr.'jps of various birds, swallows and martins included, and have found that 

 iliey consume a multitude of beetles which are destructive to farmer's crops. 



The Chairman said — 1 have placed all my coops of chickens in the garden 

 near the asparagus bed, and it is interesting to see how readily the young 

 chickens run to catch the beetles, and what numbers of them they destroy. 



.NIr. Solnii Kobinson — Several tobacco growers of West Tennessee aa- 

 .-^iired me they could not raise a crop of tobacco without the aid of turkey's. 

 I think as a general thing farmers do not appreciate the value of poultry 

 in destroying insects. 



Description of the Beetle which Destroys Apple-Twigs. 



Mr. Uiiij. I). Walsh. Kock Island, 111., gives the following interesting 

 and valuable descrii>ti<>n of the inseCt mentioneil by Horace Everett, 

 (\»uncil IMufT, Iowa, whicli perforates the twig (if the ap[»le tree just above 

 the buds, and W(uks into the pith, which he follows d(»wnward. Mr. 

 Everett deBcribed the insect as a fly. Mr. Walsh says: 



! ■ no doubt from the description of the operations of this little 



0.\r iHiyfrirliiis rii-ainlatus i>f ^ny, which connnonly attacks apple- 



tPH; iwigs ill the West in this manner, though, so far as has been hitherto 



• -eorded. it is unknf»wn in the East. In the year ISGO, early in .May, I 



iblished in llir I'mirif Farnwr (pp. 308-9) a figure of this insect, with an 

 account of its mode of boring, and a figurj; of a bore(l twig; and that you 

 may identify the sjiecimens sent by Mr. Everett, with the greater certaint}-, 

 I enclose copies of the above figures. Your readers may know it by its 

 being cylindrical in shape, almost S(piarely docke<l at each end. from \ to 

 \ of an inch long, and rather more than three times as long as wide. 



