38 
their vineyards on American stocks, and a number of cooperative nur- 
series for the grafting of the vines have been established during the 
year. The government encourages the movement by a grant of one 
pound sterling for each pound subscribed by the members. The gov- 
ernment also distributes cuttings of American vines to applicants at a 
nominal price. The applications for the past year were, however, for 
nearly four times the available supply. 
The injurious insects of Cape Colony appear to be much fewer in 
point of numbers than those of the United States. For instance, there 
is a marked absence of the numerous lepidopterous enemies of fruit 
trees. But our pests, if few, are formidable, and perhaps the loss sus- 
tained through them is quite as much, comparatively, as that sustained 
through insects in the United States. 
Mr. Hubbard then presented a paper entitled 
THE GIANT CACTUS OF ARIZONA AND ITS FAUNA. 
By H. G. HuBBARD, Washington, D. C. 
[Withdrawn for publication elsewhere. | 
Mr. Howard, prefacing his paper by brief remarks concerning the 
value of cochineal, lac, and Japanese white wax insects, presented the 
following: 
A USEFUL AMERICAN SCALE INSECT. 
By L. O. Howarp, Washington, D. C. 
There are, or have been, three commercial interests of greater or less 
importance derived from certain scale insects. For many years the 
cochineal or cactus scale insect, now called Coccus cacti, was used as 
the basis of an important red dye, until practically superseded by the 
introduction of aniline dyes. In the same way the European Porphy- 
rophora was used in the production of a purple dye. 
Aside from the dye insects, we have the lac insects, of which a single 
species, Tachardia lacca, produces practically all of the shell-lac, stick 
lac, and button lac of commerce. This species is Asiatic in its distribu- 
tion, but there seems no reason why it should not be introduced into this 
country. We have, however, in the southwest, upon the very abun- 
dant creosote bush, a lac insect occurring in an enormous quantity, the 
commercial possibilities of which have not been developed. This is 
the congeneric species, Tachardia larree Comstock. This insect has 
been known to science only since 1881, but was long prior to that time 
known to the Indians, who for many years have been in the habit of 
collecting the scale insects and forming them into more or less elasti¢ 
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