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the soap to 12 gallons of water. It is hardly necessary to call atten- 
tion to the fact that the term whale-oil soap is simply the name of the 
Soap, as there is little of this soap made from anything except fish oil; 
and while this does not detract in the least from its value, and honest 
manufacturers do not pretend to use whale oil in making it, there seems 
no good reason why we should not call it fish-oil soap and be done 
with it. 
We had hoped that these fish-oil soaps would prove so distasteful to 
insects that they would be thus driven from the treated plants, but so 
far this has not proven true, and we can now only hope to derive benefit 
from the killing qualities of this material. 
Blister beetles, notably Hpicauta vittata, have been excessively 
abundant in many localities, more complaints of their ravages having 
been received this year than usual. We have found Bordeaux mixture 
to be a good repellant, while they can be killed with fish-oil soapsuds. 
As there is also this year an abundance of grasshoppers, the effect on 
the Epicauta next year will be awaited with interest. 
Melanoplus bivittata is locally abundant every year, sometimes being 
heard from in the same locality for several successive years, and, again, 
seemingly to move its habitat of excessive abundance a short distance. 
The chief injury is to the red clover crop, which in some places it 
almost totally ruins. 
The grape-root worm, /idia viticida, is this season unusually abun- 
dant, and the injury from last year’s larve was very serious, despite 
the increase in influence that we had hoped for from the two-egg para- 
sites described some years ago by Mr. Ashmead from material obtained 
about Cleveland. Fish-oil soap has been tried against the adults with- 
out effect either as fatal to them or as a repellant. At present there 
are some grounds for hoping that arsenate of lead may prove effective 
in killing off the beetles before they have oviposited. Strangely 
enough this insect does not appear disposed to spread out from the 
locality where it has long proved so disastrous, except possibly slowly 
to the westward. We might add that we have received information of 
a Serious outbreak of this pest at Bloomington, Ill. 
At last we have found out how to kill the rose chafer, Macrodactylus 
subspinosus. In view of the fact that the digestive apparatus of this 
pest seems to be proof against the poisonous or caustic effects of most 
drugs this seems an achievement. One-half pound of fish-oil soap 
dissolved in a gallon of water and sprayed upon them will kill 95 per 
cent of the adults, the females being especially susceptible, if the suds 
is sprayed directly upon them. Drenching their food plants does not 
seem to affect them in the least, even if 1 pound of soap is used to 
each gallon of water. So the question of protecting vineyards is yet 
unsolved. Rhubarb has been found to be a valuable bait plant, the 
bloom, which appears about the time of that of the grape, being espe- 
cially attractive to the beetles, and while clustered on the blossoms 
