July 3, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



shrivelled. Lot II. was from the main planting, made in the lat- 

 ter part of April, and dug and stored in September. The tubers 

 were quite firm, and had sprouted but moderately. Lot III. was 

 seed from a second crop grown in 1889 in the following way. A 

 few hills each of several sorts, from the plat which produced the 

 seed of lot I., were dug July 11, and the potatoes planted the same 

 day on ground that had been cleared of early peas. These gave a 

 light yield of tubers of even size and of very fine quality. When 

 taken from the cellar for planting they were as firm and free from 

 sprouts as when stored. 



Tlu-ee pounds of each of the above lots were cut to three-eye 

 pieces, and planted March 18. With one exception, the sorts in 

 lot III. were from five to eight days later than the others in com- 

 ing up, while between lots I. and II. no difference could be noted. 



The vines of lot III., when they came, were much stronger than 

 the others, and in a few weeks overtook and outgrew the other 

 lots, making a much more vigorous and heavy stand. 



The date of blooming, though not varying uniformly on the 

 whole, favors the vigorous plants of lot III. for earliness, and 

 shows that the comparatively weak and slender plants of lot I. 

 bloomed later, or in three cases failed to perfect any bloom. 



The date at which they afforded potatoes of table quality did 

 not vary appreciably in favor of either, but the product, both in 

 quantity and quality, was largely in favor of lot III. 



While the product of lot II. was not, in all cases, much ahead 

 of lot I. in weight, the percentage of marketable tubers was greater, 

 and these were of greater average size. 



Summarizing the results of this trial, it seems, first, that noth- 

 ing is gained in earliness by the use of second-crop seed; second, 

 that there is a positive gain in amount of product, as well as size 

 of tubers, over that of flrst-crop seed grown in the same locality ; 

 third, that firm, well-kept, unsprouted seed is better than that 

 which is sprouted and shrivelled, giving a heavier product and of 

 better size and quality. These inferences may not be conclusive, 

 but seem to be fairly deducible from the above results. 



Still further to test the practicability of growing the second 

 crop of potatoes in one season, five pounds of seed of each variety 

 in lot III., as above mentioned, were dug July 33, and planted 

 the same day, cut in halves. These came up rather unevenly, the 

 same fault having been noticed in the previous trial. The product 

 "was of unusually fine quality, and the yield a very good one, 

 Tvhen it is considered that potatoes of ordinary planting were al- 

 most a failure in that section of the country. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS. 



The reports of the six permanent field agents of the Division of 

 Entomology of the Department of Agriculture are included in a 

 bulletin just issued from the government printing office at Wash- 

 ington. These reports are printed in full, though they are little 

 more than summaries of the work in general performed by each 

 agent. Special reports upon specific subjects have from time to 

 time been sent in by special direction, and those have been pub- 

 lished in Insect Life. 



Mr. Lawrence Bruner, who last year reported upon the insects 

 injurious to young trees on tree claims, has the present season 

 ■devoted much of his attention to insects affecting, or liable to 

 affect, the sugar-beet, a crop of growing importance in Nebraska, 

 the State in which he is located. Although but one season's col- 

 lecting has been done, some sixty-four species have been observed 

 to prey upon this crop. As is shown by the report, nearly all of 

 these can be readily kept in subjection by the use of the kerosene 

 emulsion or the arsenites. 



Mr. D. W. Coquillett's report, from California, is mainly de- 

 voted to methods and apparatus for the destruction of scale-insects 

 by means of fumigation. The experiments were aimed at the red 

 scale, which is one of the most difScuIt to treat with washes. He 

 describes the simplified tents and the rigging which enables them 

 to be used rapidly, and shows the advantage of excluding the 

 actinic rays of the light. Judging from recent California news- 

 papers, the use of this method of fighting scale-insects is rapidly 

 increasing, and the comparatively expensive apparatus is already 

 owned by a large number of fruit-growers, This improved method 



is the legitimate outgrowth of experiments which were instituted 

 by the department at Los Angeles in 1887, and possesses the ad- 

 vantage over spraying that it can hardly be done in a slovenly 

 manner. If used at all, its effects are nearly complete. 



Mr. Albert Koebele, while reporting upon a number of interest- 

 ing fruit pests, notably the tent caterpillars of the Pacific slope, 

 and a noctuid larva which destroys the buds of certain fruit trees, 

 devotes most of his report to the description of certain tests, which 

 Pi'ofessor Riley, the government entomologist, directed him to 

 make with different resin compounds against the grape phylloxera 

 in thfe Sonoma Valley during September and October of the past 

 year. The results have been fully as satisfactory as were antici- 

 pated, and the economy of the process is very striking, labor being 

 practically the only expense. 



Miss Mary E. Murtfeldt reports upon the insects of the season in 

 eastern Missouri, and also gives the results of experiments which 

 she has made with certain insecticides submitted to her from the 

 office of Professor Riley for trial. She also presents descriptions 

 of four Microlepidoptera, which are new in the role of feeders upon 

 the ajiple. 



Professor Herbert Osbom reports upon the insects injurious to 

 forage-crops, meadows, and pastures in Iowa. His report last 

 year was mainly taken up with the consideration of the leaf-hop- 

 pers, to which he gives some further consideration this year, add- 

 ing some notes on locusts and crickets. He presents also a series 

 of miscellaneous observations. 



Mr. F. M. Webster of Indiana devotes his report mainly to the 

 Hessian fly, discussing the number and development of broods, the 

 effect of the larvee upon plants, the effect of the weather on the 

 development of the fall brood, and preventive measures. He also 

 gives some notes upon three of the species of plant-lice found com- 

 monly upon wheat. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The Rev. J. Hoskyns-Abrahall writes to Nature that on June 

 10, about 10.30 p.m., near Woodstock (England), he saw what he 

 describes as " a beautiful phenomenon." " Suddenly," he says, 

 "at the zenith, east of the Great Bear, shone forth a yellow globe, 

 like Venus at her brightest. Dropping somewhat slowly, it fell 

 obliquely southward. As it passed in its brilliant career, it lighted 

 up its dusky path with a glorious lustre. When it had descended 

 about half-way down toward the horizon, it burst into a sparkling 

 host of glowing fragments, each dazzlingly shot over with all the 

 hues of the rainbow." 



— According to Industries, two novel modifications of sulphur 

 have been recently discovered by Engel. The first, like that 

 proved to exist in Wackenroders solution, is soluble in water and 

 very unstable. The other is crystalline, soluble in carbon disul- 

 phide and chloroform, and polymerizes slowly in the cold, and 

 quickly at a temperature of 100° C, but, unlike prismatic sulphur, 

 which changes on keeping into the octahedral variety, it becomes 

 converted into the white insoluble form which commonly con- 

 stitutes so large a percentage of the material known as " flowers 

 of sulphur." 



— In a new process for the manufacture of phosphorus by elec- 

 tricity used by the Phosphorus Company, at Wednesfield, near 

 Wolvei-hampton, England, says the London Engineer, the raw 

 material and coke are all fed into a specially designed furnace, 

 reduced to vapor by electric heat, and the vapor condensed into 

 marketable phosphorus, the elaborate chemical material hitherto 

 needed in dealing with the raw materials before putting thera into 

 the furnace thus being dispensed with. The estimated consump- 

 tion of phosphorus tliroughout the world is only two thousand 

 tons yer year, used chiefly for match-making. Extensions are 

 contemplated at Wednesfield, which will ultimately, it is antici- 

 pated, lead to the company being able to make half this quantity, 

 at that place. 



— W. J. Lincoln Adams, editor of the amateur photography 

 department of Outing, says in the July number: " The prepara- 

 tions for the twelfth annual convention of the Photographers' 

 Association of America, which will be held this year in Buffalo 

 from July 14 to 17, are actively progressing, and the indications 



