44 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



free from poison, a fact that shows that some protection is 

 afforded. This, however, was in a vineyard which had been seri- 

 ously injured and was therefore not making much growth. 



We have been to considerable pains in looking up evidence 

 both for and against arsenical poisons and the above summary 

 of results obtained in Ohio, in connection with the work done 

 in New York and elsewhere, leads us to the conclusion that, 

 while the arsenical spray may, under certain conditions, give 

 some protection from this insect, either by driving away the 

 beetles or possibly killing thein, we are by no means certain that 

 this will result, specially in the case of more thrifty vineyards, 

 and Ave are inclined to believe that in some instances the bene- 

 fits resulting from poison applications have been greatly overesti- 

 mated. We do know, on the other hand, that collecting and kill- 

 ing the insects, if it be done early enough, means protection, and 

 for the present we prefer to recommend the latter method of fight- 

 ing the pest rather than to indorse the use of a poison, the general 

 utility of which has not been proved for Fidia. Enough 

 has been done to warrant more extended work with poisons and 

 it may be that another year or two will enable us to determine 

 their true value. 



Destruction of the eggs. This seemingly difficult operation was 

 accomplished by Mr William Barden of Ripley by rubbing the 

 canes with a gloved hand. He found that most of the eggs 

 were deposited on the middle shoots, and that the great majority 

 of them were crushed by rubbing. The operation, though slow, 

 is not necessarily very expensive, as a man could go over approxi- 

 mately an acre a day without difficulty. 



We have also conducted some experiments to test the resistance 

 of the eggs to insecticides and have learned that a whale oil soap 

 solution, 1 pound to 4 gallons of water, has no effect on them. 

 It is doubtful if they can be destroyed with a spray. The 

 extended period during which eggs are deposited, however, 

 renders Mr Barden's method of controlling the insect of some- 

 what questionable value, and its employment can be advised only 

 when a vineyard is found to be badly infested with eggs, and 

 there is, therefore, no other method of getting at the insects 

 before the grubs commence their operations. 



