ah 
Mr. Saunders stated that the pea louse had been severely injurious 
in the vicinity of the Bay of Fundy during the past year, this being, 
perhaps, the most northerly record of damage by the species. 
The next paper was by the same author: 
THE STALK WORM: A NEW ENEMY TO YOUNG TOBACCO. 
By W. G. Jounson, College Park, Md. 
When I first arrived in Maryland, in July, 1896, I was told that for 
some years past an insect had done a great deal of damage to young 
tobacco just after it was set out. From the description given me I was 
satisfied it was not the ordinary cutworm so common in tobacco, and 
could hardly believe that the injury was due to the true wireworm. I 
made a careful search for the creature in southern Maryland the sum- 
mer of 1896, but was unable to find any trace of the culprit. In the 
spring of 1897 I asked my correspondents to notify me of the first 
appearance of the insect. It was not until June 22 of the present 
season, however, that I received such information as I desired. On 
that date Mr. EK. W. Robertson, of Belalton, Charles County, wrote me 
as follows: 
I have 3 acres of tobacco, planted June 1, which has been killed by the stalk or 
wireworm, about which you desire information. I planted this field a second time 
the 12th, and the worms have entirely destroyed it again. I have just replowed the 
land, and have it ready to plant a third time, but do not know whether to do so or 
not, as I do not care to do all the work again if the worms are likely to kill it. I 
want to know about what time they leave, and if there is anything I can use to kill 
them without injury to the plants. 
I arranged as soon as possible after the Tecaiot of this interesting 
communication to make a personal inspection of the conditions. On 
the 27th of June I went direct to Belalton, and in company with Mr. 
Robertson made a critical examination of the field. We were not long 
in finding the depredator, and I saw for the first time the insect that had 
been described to me as the “stalk worm,” ‘wire worm,” “root worm,” 
“heart worm,” “bud worm,” and “cut worm.” I was particularly 
anxious to see the insect, as I knew of no record of similar injury to 
young tobacco in entomological literature and could not possibly iden- 
tify it from descriptions given me by the planters. We had not walked 
2 rods in the field when Mr. Robertson called my attention to a dwarfed 
plant not over one-quarter as large as those surrounding it. He said: 
‘That plant has been injured by the stalk worm, and if you dig around 
it you will find the rascal that did it.” 
Eager to get my eyes upon the pest, I assure you I was not long in 
getting upon my knees, and by a few careful scrapes we found near the 
stalk, just beneath the surface, a small mass of silk intermingled with 
dirt, resembling a cobweb rolled in dust. Tearing this open I saw for 
the first time the stalk worm, a small, rather smooth, semitransparent, 
greenish larva, a little less than a half-inch in length. It was exceed- 
