the season. This year, owing to dry weather, they were very abundant in waste 

 places, and he found about one-half of the timothy destroyed by them. After 

 the rain set in, the injury was very much reduced. 



Mr. Geddes spoke of some variations in size that he had observed in the 

 common yellow butterfly (Golias philodice), and expressed his opinion that the- 

 large specimens fed on clover, and the small on lucerne. 



Mr. Howard, of Washington, gave an account of the success which has attended 

 the efforts of Dr. Riley and his assistants to introduce parasites of the fluted- 

 scale insect (Icerya purchasi, Mask ell), a very destructive creature, in California.. 

 This noxious insect has appeared very suddenly in the State, from no one 

 knew where. Experiments were made upon it, and remedies proposed, but the 

 cultivators did not seem to care to make use of them on their plantations. They 

 then set to work to learn its life-history, and soon found that it came from Aus- 

 tralia. They corresponded with Mr. Frazer S. Crawford regarding it. He found 

 the insect in Australia, but it was not at all abundant. They concluded, there- 

 fore, that it was kept in check by parasites. A dipterous parasite was found by 

 Mr. Crawford. Their next proceeding was to send Mr. Koebele to Australia. He* 

 found the insect everywhere, and observed that it was very commonly parasitized. 

 He then sent over about 15,000 living specimens of parasites. They were liber- 

 ated at Los Angeles. He also found a lady-bird (Vedalia) feeding on the scale 

 insect, and sent several thousand of them. The result has not been satisfactory 

 with the dipterous parasite, as it breeds too slowly, but one of the species of lady- 

 birds breeds most rapidly, and will no doubt keep the pest within due bounds.. 



As an instance of this, he mentioned that 400 lady-birds were sent to one 

 planter, Colonel Dobbins, in May last ; he thought from their satisfactory work 

 that his orchard would be free from the pest by the close of the summer, but he 

 afterwards wrote to say that on the 15th of August there was not one living scale 

 insect left. The experiment had been entirely successful. Mr. Howard also 

 referred to the importation of the parasites in 1883 of the cabbage-butterfly 

 (Pieris rapae). 



Dr. Bethune gave an account of his attempt to import from England many 

 years ago the parasites of the wheat midge, and of the failure of the effort. 



Dr. Brodie was strongly of opinion that noxious insects should be fought by 

 means of parasites ; that this was the true scientific method, and that the use of 

 poisons was a grave mistake. He was very much gratified with the account of 

 the methods adopted at Washington, and hoped that they would be developed to> 

 the utmost. 



Mr. Fletcher in reply said, that we could not possibly ignore the great value; 

 of poisons as remedies against noxious insects ; that it was absolutely necessary 

 to use them until we can depend upon the parasites ; and that even if we had the 

 parasites at work upon our destructive insects, they might at any time be swept 

 away through a mildew or blight, and we should be left at the mercy of the 

 enemy. He had been in correspondence with Mr. Whitehead in England in order 

 to procure the parasites of Diplosis, but unfortunately this gentleman was ill and 

 unable to carry out the project. He had found nearly all the specimens of scale 

 insects Aspidiotus sent to him from British Columbia were parasitized, but had' 

 never found one affected in this way in Ontario. 



Dr. Brodie thought that the farming community could never be brought to 

 adopt scientific methods for the protection of their crops till they had suffered from 

 a sweeping destruction. He referred, as an example, to the ravages of the wheat- 

 midge some years ago. In the county of York it wrought so much havoc that 



