1892.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 23I 



I tried the experiment of eating heartily of currants which had been 

 sprayed the day previously with a hellebore decoction made according to 

 my directions. I am happy to say I felt not the slightest discomfort from 

 the dose. , 



Plutella cruciferariim is also treated, and the arsenites are recommended. 



The abundance of Grasshoppers daring the Season.— In "Insect Life," 

 vol. V, p. 57, the editors mention the abundance of grasshoppers in several 

 •eastern localities. In New Jersey there has also been an unusual abun- 

 dance of Orthoptera, and especially in. the southern parts of the State. 

 Two days' collecting in Cape May County, early in September, was pro- 

 ductive of a greater number of specimens and species than I had before 

 taken in the State in any one year. Localities back of the shore, which, 

 in ordinary seasons are swampy and inaccessible, were completely dried 

 out in late Summer, and here the smaller Locustidae abounded. Acridium 

 was unusually abundant, four species being observed, two of them in 

 great numbers. Of the cultivated crops, cranberries suffered more than 

 others; late cabbages were badly injured in some localities, and other 

 garden truck suffered to a less extent; field crops in general escaped. 



The great abundance of these insects during the season has induced a 

 somewhat careful .study of them, the results of which will appear in a 

 Station Bulletin some time during the month. 



A Mosquito Remedy. — "An Experiment against Mosquitoes," is the title 

 of an interesting paper read by Mr. L. O. Howard before the Association 

 of Economic Entomologists at Rochester, and now published in "Insect 

 Life" vol. v, p. 12. He finds that a very small quantity of kerosene on 

 the surface of pools will suffice to kill all aquatic larvae, including those 

 of the mosquito, and will also kill the female mosquitoes attempting to 

 oviposit. The length of time for which the kerosene remains active, is a 

 matter of some s^^rprise. Mr. Howard did not get the Lamborn prize for 

 saying in the most round-about way that cultivating dragonflies would 

 not answer to destroy mosquitoes, but he has done better, and has made 

 an experiment, the practical value of which cannot yet be estimated. He 

 has proved that under some circumstances it is quite possible to prevent 

 breeding, by mosquitoes, and even to destroy the adults themselves. 



Peach Yellows. — Mr. Patton's note on Peach Yellows, in the April num- 

 ber of the News, is evidently based on a misconception, and on ignorance 

 of the voluminous literature of the subject. The " Yellows" is undoubt- 

 edly a specific disease of an extremely obscure character, and in no way 

 to be attributed to insect injury. Mr. Patton's note should never have 

 been written. 



Subscribers sending insects for identification will please put locality 

 labels on their specimens. 



