30 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No. 415 



the State; while the expense for the execution of certain of 

 the regulations is borne, one third by the proprietor, and two 

 thirds by the local society. A fine for disobedience of the 

 regulations is also provided for. The laws, as published, are 

 none too severe, and meet the urgency of the case; and it is 

 refi'eshing to notice the energy with which the government 

 has met the threatened danger, and at the same time grati- 

 fying to note the appreciation shown of our own means and 

 methods. 



Use of Contagious Germs in the Field. 



Most of you are aware that I have not had the greatest 

 faith in the availability of contagious disease-germs as a 

 means of battling with injurious insects in field, garden, 

 orchard, or forest. There are so many delicate questions in- 

 volved, and so many obstacles in the way of practically car- 

 rying out any plan, however plausible theoretically, or true 

 in principle ! Our ability to contaminate healthy by diseased 

 specimens is but a short step, and leaves many important 

 questions, as of rapid dissemination, untouched. The theory 

 is very tempting, and has been particularly dwelt upon by 

 some who were essentially closet-workers, having but faint 

 realization of the practical necessities of the case. Theoreti- 

 cally, with those insect diseases of a cryptogamic nature, 

 having a complex life-history and a resting spore, the diffi- 

 culties are greater than with those of a bacterial origin; and 

 it is to these last that we should look for important aid, if it 

 be available. Tet if the work of Messrs. Lugger and Snow 

 should be fully substantiated, the best results have so far 

 been obtained with the entomophthora of the chinch-bug. No 

 one will be more pleased to have his doubts dissipated by 

 some tangible evidence of the practicability of this method 

 than myself. Success, if possible, will come only by in- 

 vestigations upon thoroughly careful and scientific lines, 

 such as those begun and still pursued by Professor Forbes. 

 The ease with which he conveyed the silk-worm purine to 

 other larvae, his conveying the cabbage-worm micrococcus to 

 other larvae, and his carrying this micrococcus in cultures 

 over winter, are promising facts, as is also Professor Osborn's 

 contaminating cabbage-worms in Iowa with specimens 

 brought from Illinois. Congress having at its last session 

 appropriated twenty-five hundred dollars for some further 

 investigation of the boll-worm, the possibilities in this direc- 

 tion for this particular insect have caused me to plan investi- 

 gations having for their object thorough field experiment with 

 some of these disease germs. 



Heliothis armigera is one of those cosmopolitan insects 

 which has become more injurious in the United States than 

 in any other part of the world, by virtue of its partiality for 

 green corn, green cotton-bolls, and green tomatoes. The 

 polyphagous and partially endophytous habit of the larva 

 renders its destruction difEicult, except during the earlier 

 free-living stages, by the fine spraying of the arsenites on 

 the under surfaces of the leaves. The ideal treatment for 

 the larger burrowing worms were some rapidly spreading 

 disease-germ that would penetrate and destroy them in their 

 hidden recesses. The insect was reported as extremely 

 abundant in cotton-bolls during the summer, especially in 

 Texas ; but by the time the appropriations became available, 

 its numbers had decreased, and it was too late in the 

 season to do much more than prepare for next year. We 

 may expect, as a result of special investigation, much ad- 

 ditional fact and experience as to habits, natural enemies, 

 and means of controlling ; but it is my desire to make the 

 trial of these disease-germs the Special feature of the investi- 



gation. Of those employed in the investigation, Mr. F. W. 

 Mally was a former assistant to Professor Forbes, and has 

 some experience in the study and culture of disease-germs ; 

 while Dr. A. E. Booth is sonjething of an enthusiast on the 

 subject, and has already established the susceptibility, 

 through contact, of the boll-worm to the cabbage-worm 

 micrococcus [M. pieridis) oi Biirrill, and is preparing to 

 carry the germs through the winter. I have had in mind, 

 as probably the most promising germ, that which affects 

 Nephelodes violans in a similar epidemic way, but which, 

 as Professor Forbes informs me, is a quite distinct micro- 

 coccus, and shall be pleased to have any of you co-operate 

 with me next year by informing me of any disease of this 

 character that may prevail in your several localities. 



Apiculture. 



While little attention has so far been given by the differ- 

 ent stations to the subject of apiculture, except at Lansing, 

 it is nevertheless an important branch of economic entomol- 

 ogy, and there is much promise of good results yet to come 

 from careful experiment and investigation. One of the 

 most inviting fields is the search for and introduction of 

 new varieties or species of bees ; for just as American 

 apiculture has profited in the past by the importation of 

 races like the Italians, Syrians, and Carniolans, there is 

 every prospect of further improvement by the study and in- 

 troduction of such promising races as are either known to 

 occur or may be found, in parts of Africa and Asia. Apis 

 dorsata is believed to have many desirable qualities ; and 

 private efforts have already been made to introduce it, and 

 have failed chiefly for want of means. The further study 

 of desirable bee forage-plants, and the introduction and ac- 

 climatization of such as are known to be valuable in parts 

 of the country where they do not yet occur, are very de- 

 sirable. 



Much has yet to be done, also, in the line of systematic 

 breeding ; and we should be able to make rapid advances in 

 the amelioration of existing races by proper selection, if we 

 could assume practical and ready control of the fertilization 

 of the queen. In these directions we are now planning at 

 the department some effective work ; but the introduction of 

 foreign bees, which the department should be able to under- 

 take to better advantage than any private individual or 

 State institution, is rendered more difficult by virtue of the 

 restrictions in the appropriation already alluded to in dis- 

 cussing the subject of the introduction of parasites ; and 

 whatever is done in the other directions by the national de- 

 partment will be done most advantageously tVirough the co- 

 operation of one or more of the State stations, many of 

 which are far better equipped and more favorably situated 

 for apicultural work than the department at Washington. 

 Silk-Culture. 



Tliis, again, is an important part of applied entomology, 

 and, as most of you know, I have for many years worked 

 toward the establishment of silk-culture in this country. 

 The result of these efforts has served only to convince me of 

 the utter impossibility of successfully entering upon the en- 

 terprise on a business basis, without protective duty on the 

 reeled or misnamed "raw" silk. Some five years ago, 

 largely through the then commissioner's appeal, based on 

 my own report and assurances, Congress appropriated fifteen 

 thousand dollars for the express purpose of giving a thorough 

 test to the Serrell automatic reeling-machinery, in the hope 

 that by its means the question of labor might be minimized, 

 and we could reel silk at a profit. The previous attempts of 



