﻿12 
  i 
  KEPOKT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  The 
  next 
  year, 
  1876, 
  in 
  Essex 
  Coouty, 
  Massachusetts, 
  they 
  attracted 
  the 
  

   attention 
  of 
  farmers 
  and 
  others 
  about 
  the 
  ] 
  st 
  of 
  June, 
  Specimens 
  brought 
  

   me 
  from 
  Marblehead 
  and 
  Lawrence 
  laid 
  eggs 
  June 
  7, 
  which 
  hatched 
  

   June 
  12. 
  June 
  22, 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  beetle 
  and 
  young 
  in 
  all 
  stages, 
  from 
  the 
  

   egg 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  nearly 
  mature 
  larva, 
  in 
  a 
  garden 
  in 
  Salem, 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  

   after 
  heard 
  of 
  its 
  appearance 
  in 
  the 
  towns 
  of 
  Reading, 
  Beverly, 
  Wen- 
  

   ham, 
  Hamilton, 
  and 
  Essex. 
  In 
  1876 
  it 
  was 
  extremely 
  injurious 
  in 
  Essex 
  

   County. 
  I 
  am 
  informed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  John 
  H. 
  Sears, 
  of 
  Danvers, 
  that 
  half 
  

   his 
  crop 
  of 
  late 
  potatoes 
  were 
  devoured 
  by 
  this 
  beetle, 
  and 
  he 
  thinks 
  

   that 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  proportionate 
  loss 
  throughout 
  the 
  county. 
  Early 
  

   potatoes 
  mostly 
  escaped 
  their 
  ravages. 
  The 
  potato-fields 
  in 
  the 
  neigh- 
  

   borhood 
  of 
  Amherst 
  were 
  overrun 
  with 
  them 
  soon 
  after 
  the 
  plants 
  came 
  

   up, 
  and 
  in 
  September 
  I 
  saw 
  the 
  beetle 
  everywhere. 
  In 
  1877 
  the 
  yield 
  

   of 
  potatoes 
  will 
  be 
  undoubtedly 
  very 
  light 
  and 
  potatoes 
  high 
  priced. 
  

   During 
  the 
  autuqin 
  of 
  1876 
  they 
  were 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  unusually 
  high. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  I 
  learned 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Isaac 
  L. 
  Ham, 
  of 
  Wiuchendon, 
  

   Mass., 
  a 
  town 
  about 
  18 
  miles 
  west 
  of 
  Boston, 
  that 
  eggs 
  and 
  beetles 
  were 
  

   found 
  on 
  the 
  vines 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  July, 
  1875. 
  Beetles 
  were 
  seen 
  at 
  Lowell 
  

   in 
  August, 
  1875. 
  It 
  appears 
  from 
  these 
  facts 
  that 
  the 
  beetles 
  must 
  have 
  

   been 
  introduced 
  along 
  lines 
  of 
  railway 
  in 
  different 
  portions 
  of 
  Massa- 
  

   chusetts 
  in 
  1874. 
  

  

  In 
  1875 
  it 
  appeared 
  in 
  the 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  Vermont, 
  and 
  during 
  the 
  

   summer 
  of 
  1876 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  as 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  abundant 
  in 
  various 
  

   pr-rts 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  In 
  1875 
  it 
  appeared 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  in 
  New 
  Hamp- 
  

   shire, 
  according 
  to 
  0. 
  H. 
  Fernald. 
  In 
  1866 
  Mr. 
  Walsh 
  predicted 
  that 
  it 
  

   would 
  reach 
  Maine 
  " 
  in 
  ten 
  or 
  twelve 
  years." 
  His 
  prediction 
  has 
  proved 
  

   to 
  be 
  a 
  true 
  one. 
  In 
  Maine, 
  according 
  to 
  Prof. 
  C. 
  H. 
  Fernald, 
  it 
  was 
  first 
  

   seen 
  in 
  1875, 
  and 
  occurred 
  not, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  learn, 
  on 
  the 
  southwestern 
  

   border 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  central 
  portion, 
  and 
  this 
  leads 
  me 
  to 
  think 
  

   that 
  its 
  appearance 
  here, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  New 
  England 
  generally, 
  has 
  been 
  

   accelerated 
  by 
  its 
  transportation 
  on 
  freight-cars 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  sent 
  

   through 
  from 
  different 
  points 
  in 
  the 
  West. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  well-determined 
  fact 
  

   that 
  the 
  diffusion 
  of 
  noxious 
  insects 
  over 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  is 
  greatly 
  

   promoted 
  by 
  railways 
  and 
  " 
  through 
  " 
  freight-cars, 
  as 
  permanent 
  tracks 
  

   are 
  thus 
  made 
  through 
  forests 
  and 
  across 
  rivers, 
  the 
  natural 
  barriers 
  of 
  

   insect 
  life. 
  

  

  Eegarding 
  its 
  advent 
  in 
  Maine, 
  I 
  will 
  first 
  quote 
  from 
  a 
  letter 
  of 
  Prof. 
  

   O. 
  H. 
  Fernald, 
  of 
  the 
  Maine 
  State 
  Agricultural 
  College, 
  dated 
  ©rono, 
  

   August 
  23, 
  1876 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  true 
  Colorado 
  potato-beetle 
  is 
  really 
  in 
  this 
  State, 
  but 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  arrived 
  so 
  far 
  

   east 
  as 
  this 
  place. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  at 
  Orrington, 
  near 
  Bucksport, 
  but 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  

   more 
  than 
  likely 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  three-lined 
  potato-beetle, 
  {Lema 
  trilineata). 
  Speci- 
  

   mens 
  were 
  sent 
  me 
  from 
  Winterport 
  which 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  three-lined. 
  The 
  true 
  beetle 
  

   (imago) 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  me 
  about 
  three 
  weeks 
  ago 
  from 
  Skowhegan, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  common 
  

   enough 
  to 
  attract 
  attention. 
  One 
  of 
  our 
  students 
  found 
  it 
  in 
  Saco 
  in 
  July 
  of 
  this 
  year. 
  

   A 
  few 
  days 
  ago 
  I 
  had 
  a 
  letter 
  from 
  a 
  friend 
  in 
  Wilton, 
  who 
  says 
  they 
  are 
  common 
  there. 
  

   Last 
  fall 
  I 
  looked 
  into 
  the 
  matter 
  a 
  little, 
  and 
  could 
  not 
  learn 
  tliat 
  they 
  had 
  at 
  that 
  

   time 
  reached 
  the 
  western 
  boundary 
  of 
  Maine, 
  though 
  they 
  were 
  in 
  New 
  Hampshire. 
  

   Eeasoniug 
  from 
  their 
  rate 
  of 
  progress 
  across 
  the 
  continent, 
  I 
  concluded 
  they 
  would 
  

   travel 
  this 
  year 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  Kennebec 
  Eiver, 
  which 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  done. 
  I 
  sup- 
  

   pose 
  they 
  have 
  come 
  into 
  the 
  State 
  by 
  their 
  own 
  means 
  of 
  distribution— 
  flying 
  from 
  

   field 
  to 
  field. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  D. 
  A. 
  Conaut, 
  in 
  a 
  communication 
  to 
  the 
  Maine 
  Farmer, 
  dated 
  

   July 
  28, 
  states 
  that 
  certain 
  beetles, 
  identified 
  by 
  the 
  editor 
  of 
  that 
  

   paper 
  (Mr. 
  S. 
  L. 
  Boardman) 
  as 
  Boryphora 
  lO-Uneata, 
  occurred 
  in 
  Temple, 
  

   Me., 
  near 
  West 
  Farmingtou. 
  Mr. 
  R. 
  A. 
  Davis 
  writes 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  paper 
  

   August 
  6, 
  from 
  South 
  Norridgewock, 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  We 
  had 
  very 
  dry 
  and 
  hot 
  weather 
  in 
  July 
  ; 
  crops 
  suffered 
  very 
  much. 
  Two 
  weeks 
  

   ago 
  to-day 
  we 
  had 
  a 
  nice 
  rain, 
  with 
  heavy 
  showers, 
  and 
  since 
  that 
  corn 
  and 
  potatoes 
  

  

  