7 
known in the colony. A number of small ladybirds prey upon it, but with 
little effect. Jfforts are being made to introduce exotic species; a num- 
ber were imported about twenty months ago, but only one, Orcus austra- 
lasiw, survived the first three months. Many of this species may now 
be found in the orchard where their predecessors were liberated, but the 
seales are still as abundant as before. To encourage remedial treat- 
ment a fumigation outfit has been operated by the government since 
September last. Upward of 6,000 trees in orchards scattered through 
many towns have been successfully treated, and an illustrated pamphlet 
fully describing the process is being printed; this will be distributed 
among the fruit growers allover the colony. It is believed that the best 
orchards will hereafter be fumigated systematically. 
The abundance of the ptinid beetle, Sitodrepa panicea, in Cape Town 
and other important centers of the colony is worthy of remark. This 
insect was discussed by Miss Ormerod as a serious pest to boots and 
shoes in her South African Insects, published in 1889. Several mer- 
chants dealing in boots and shoes have told me that the insect is not 
now responsible for more than a fraction of the damage it formerly 
caused, but is stilla source of much annoyance to them. Other leather 
goods in which paste was used in the process of manufacture are also 
subject to infestation. The decreasing importance of the insect as 
regards boots and shoes may be taken as evidence that some of the 
manufacturers now use nonnutritious or poisoned paste. It is also 
probable that the retail dealers do more than formerly to check it. A 
prominent chemist informs me that he frequently supplies carbon bisul- 
phide as an insecticide for the purpose. Within a few months the 
insect has attracted attention by its injuries to the binding of valuable 
documents in the colonial archives, and a search has proven its pres- 
ence in the book rooms of the different government departments. It 
is, however, unknown at the public library. Entomological speci- 
mens in this office are frequently injured, and a prominent botanist 
complains that, do what he will, this insect maintains its hold in his 
specimen room. 
The ravages of the grape phylloxera (Phyllovera vastatrix) in Western 
Province vineyards is yearly increasing. Eradicative methods have 
been abandoned by the government, but carbon bisulphide may be 
obtained by owners of infested vineyards at one-half the actual cost. 
Very little has been sold of late. The carriage of agricultural produce 
from infested to clean vine-growing areas is restricted, and parties 
infringing the regulations are liable to severe punishment. The infested 
area steadily enlarges, but the Constantia vineyards, where the finest 
wines of the colony are produced, are still entirely free of the pest, 
although some of them lie within 5 er 6 miles of where the first 
occurrences were discovered over ten years ago. The leaf-infesting 
form of the insect appears to be wholly unknown in the colony. The 
vine growers have at last awakened to the necessity of reconstituting 
