lO NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The sinuate pear borer, another Eiiropean insect which became 

 established in New Jersey some years ago, is extending its range 

 slowly in New York State and is already known in several localities. 

 It is an extremely dangerous pest owing to its insidious method of 

 work, because the larvae make niunerous serpentine, interlacing 

 galleries in the inner bark and outer sapwood, thus speedily destroy- 

 ing limbs or entire trees before there are marked, outward signs oi 

 the borer's presence. 



Gipsy moth. An examination of conditions obtaining at Mount 

 Kisco where an infestation of several years' standing was discovered 

 in 191 4, shows that very satisfactory work has been done in the 

 control of the pest. The infested areas have been well cleaned, 

 banded with tanglefoot and sprayed, and the outlying, unsprayed 

 area banded with burlap for the purpose of catching any possible 

 stray caterpillars. The great reduction in the infestation, as com- 

 pared with conditions obtaining last year, is very gratifying, and if 

 the work is continued along present lines the probabilities are 

 excellent of eliminating this local infestation by an insect known to 

 be a serious enemy of both orchard and forest trees. 



Grass and grain pests. The extended grasshopper devastations 

 of last year on the borders of the Adirondacks, especially in portions 

 of Fulton, Saratoga and Warren counties, were continued, though 

 the insects were present in much smaller numbers, especially in 

 Fulton county where poisoned bait was used very effectively the 

 preceding season. The Entomologist, cooperating with the State 

 Department of Agriculture and the Saratoga County Farm Bureau, 

 conducted a series of experiments for the destruction of young grass- 

 hoppers. It was found that while the poisoned, fruit-flavored bait, 

 frequently known as the Kansas bait, would kill many of the grass- 

 hoppers, especially in sections where vegetation was sparse, that a 

 sweetened solution of sodium arsenite was most effective in destroy- 

 ing young grasshoppers in fields where there was considerable vege- 

 tation, particularly in clover seedings. The work of the past two 

 seasons has demonstrated beyond all question the practicability of 

 controlling outbreaks of this character, even on individual farms, 

 though cooperation in badly infested areas is extrem.ely desirable. 

 The details of this work are given on following pages. 



The white grub outbreak of last season, predicted by the Ento- 

 mologist the preceding fall and spring, was very serious in southern 

 Rensselaer and northern Columbia counties in particular, though 

 the damage was mitigated to a considerable extent by an unusually 

 copious and well-distributed rainfall during the summer months. 



