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eaten. This is the first season | have seen it here.” We have not 
observed it in Maryland this season. 
In June, 1897, my attention was attracted to clusters of woolly lice 
on the under surface of maple leaves on the Agricultural College 
grounds. I identified the species as Pemphigus acerifolu Riley. They 
appeared again in 1898 and 1899. This season they were quite abundant 
the jatter part of May, all of June, and the first half of July, after 
which they disappeared. They exude a large amount of honeydew, 
literally covering the grass or any object under the tree. The honey- 
dew soon becomes blackish with a bluish tinge. The woolly material 
with which the insects are covered is easily blown off, and great quanti- 
ties of it cover the ground and objects in the vicinity of infested trees. 
In 1898 I directed some experiments with kerosene and water, using it 
from 15 to 50 per cent, but found it would not penetrate the woolly 
mass. The most satisfactory remedy known at present is hand picking 
of the infested leaves. The insects cluster in large numbers on the 
under surface of the leaves, and are easily detected by their cottony 
masses. I have also had the same insect sent to me from Botetourt 
County, Va., where it was very abundant upon maple June 20. 
The pear psylla, Psylla pyricola, has been unusually abundant in some 
large pear orchards on the Hastern Shore this season. In one instance 
about 4,000 dwarfed. Duchesse pear trees, fifteen years old, have been 
so seriously damaged that they will be cut down this fall. The trees 
in July were almost defoliated, and what few leaves remained were 
yellowish and sickly. The trees have made no growth, and many of 
them have died this summer. 
The currant worm, Pteronus (Nematus) ribesii, attacked currant and 
gooseberry early in May, and was a serious pest throughout the State. 
It was also reported to me from Henderson, Ky., where much injury 
was done to gooseberry. Weused a 12 per cent solution of kerosene 
and water with splendid results when the larve were quite small. 
Later we found hellebore decoction, 1 ounce in 1 gallon of water, prefer- 
able, as it did not spoil the fruit. 
The plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar, has been unusually abun- 
dant this season, the principal injury having been done to the peach 
crop along the tide-water section of Maryland. Some injury has been 
done to apples in the mountain section, but not serious. Last season 
there was a heavy crop of peaches in the mountain section, and practi- 
cally no apples. ‘This year the reverse is true, and we would naturally 
expect the attack upon the apple. 
The strawberry weevil, Anthonomus signatus, appeared again this 
season in quite destructive numbers. The last general outbreak of this 
insect was in 1896. Although the weevil was destructive this season, 
still a large crop of berries was gathered. May 29 the pest was reported 
as doing serious damage to Enhance and Lovett varieties in Alleghany 
County. This is the first record in our office of its occurrence in the 
