l895-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. II9 



knowledge carefully to himself; he should have used all sorts of materials 

 for experimental purposes in those places where the climate would have 

 killed them off anyway, and he should have spent every cent of the 

 money, carefully avoiding those snug corners. Then, next year he should 

 have pointed with pride to the fact that wherever he had been and had 

 tried his experiments that there no locusts appeared, and that only where 

 he had not made applications the insects again appeared the following 

 year. The facts would have been incontrovertible and Mr. Reed would 

 have made a reputation that would have lasted the balance of his life, 

 and would have had, besides, the pleasure of expending a snug little 

 fortune. Mr. Reed is undoubtedly a good entomologist in more ways 

 than one, but in our own country I am afraid that he would be considered 

 as sadly behind the times. 



Chinch-bags Again. — Bulletin No. 37 of the Minnesota Experiment Sta- 

 tion furnishes another chapter in the history of experiments against this 

 insec;. Dr. Lugger makes substantially the same recommendations for 

 fighting the insects that are made by Prof. Forbes, and he also has had 

 some experience with the " white muscardine." In giving the experience 

 on the Experiment Station Farm, Dr. Lugger shows that the disease 

 appeared there and spread with exceedingly great rapidity during a spell 

 of suitable — that is, wet weather, and that the recurrence of dry, warm 

 weather checked the disease and prevented its further spread. This is, 

 of course, in accordance with the observations made elsewhere. He finds 

 further, however, that after distributing a great lot of insects covered with 

 the fungus to many different points in Minnesota that there were out- 

 breaks of the disease, in some cases sufficient to check further injury. It 

 is admitted that these outbreaks were so extensive that it seemed almost 

 unreasonable to ascribe them to the infestation introduced by the dead 

 bugs ; but, on the other hand, is seems that only where these insects 

 were introduced was there any appearance of the disease. All this evi- 

 dence is interesting, and all runs towards a single direction. It will prove 

 without question a good thing to distribute the disease and to introduce 

 it into all parts of the country where the chinch-bug occurs in injurious 

 numbers ; but, having done this, we have done nearly all that it is pos- 

 sible to do. Nature must do the rest — that is to say, it depends then 

 upon the character of the season and upon the meteorological conditions 

 as to whether or not there will be a development of the disease sufficient 

 to do practical good. Again we note a tendency to recommend farm 

 practice and methods of cultivation as remedial — or rather preventive 

 measures— and I feel very certain that t-he more the insects are studied in 

 the field, and the more we know of their feeding and hibernating habits, 

 the more these methods will come into use for preventing injury from 

 insects. I am convinced that in the course of another decade measures 

 against insects will be quite different in their character from those prac- 

 ticed at the present time. 



