146 [Assembly, 



tion will kill the young aphids. Sal-soda solution applied is 

 the bark said to cause the aphids to abandon the tree, but it to 

 questionable if it would be taken in the circulation by this means. 

 It might be done through spraying the leaves or applied to the 

 roots. 



The Asparagus Beetle. (The Country Gentleman for June 3, 

 1886, li, p. 429, c. 2 — 22 cm.) 



The insect injuring seed-beds of asparagus in Chestertown, 

 Md., identified and figured in its several stages, with notice of 

 its introduction at Astoria, on Long Island, thirty years ago. 

 For full account of it, reference is made to the Country Gentle- 

 man of April 14, 1881. The best remedy for it is freshly 

 slacked lime as tested and vouched for by Mr. A. S. Fuller. 

 The lime is also a valuable fertilizer. Poultry are serviceable 

 for destroying the beetle. 



A New Strawberry Insect. (The New England Homestead for 

 June 5, 1886, xx, p. 216, c. 5 — 11 cm.) 



Beetles occurring in large numbers in Columbia, Conn., on 

 strawberry plants, very badly eaten, are found to be Bembidium 

 quadrimaculatum (Linn.). Dr. Fitch, in his remarks upon this 

 common garden insect, states that its habits are carnivorous. 

 Some of the Carabidce, however, are kuown to be herbivorous ; 

 and the circumstances under which this species occurred as 

 detailed, render it probable that it was the depredator upon the 

 strawberry plant. 



The Grapevine Scale Insect. (The New England Homestead for 

 June, 12, 1886, xx, p. 221, c. 6 — 14 cm.) 



Scales on a grapevine from Springfield, Mass. (described), are 

 identified with some doubt, as Pulmnaria vitis of Linnaeus. 

 The eggs were hatched at the time received, June 4, without 

 any cottony excretion visible. As remedies, crushing the 

 scales, which are quite tender, by rubbing the vine with a cloth 

 wet with a carbolic acid solution, or scraping them into a vessel 

 of water and kerosene, are recommended. 



Apple-Tree Bark-Louse. (The Country Gentleman for June 17, 

 1886, li, p. 469, c. 4 — 29 cm.) 



Apple twigs sent from Virginia are covered with the scales of 

 Mytilaspis pomicorticis. Trees completely infested, should be 

 burned. From young and but partially infested trees the scales 

 should be scraped in the autumn by some instrument that will at 

 the same time crush the eggs beneath them, to be followed by 

 an alkaline wash. 



