175 



others, may be due to the habit of eating insects in places where Paris green has been 

 used, but after careful inquiry we find no warrant for believing such to be the case. 

 We have not been able to learn of a single instance in which any undomesticated 

 bird has been found dead in the vicinity of potato fields under circumstances pointing 

 to this cause. Birds certainly exercise much judgment in selecting their food, and 

 it is not probable that they would eat sickly or dying insects so long as healthy ones 

 were to be found. 



In oar studies upon the Colorado Potato-beetle many years ago we 

 mentioned the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, which was extremely abundant 

 in various localities in the west in 1872, and we are pleased to notice 

 that in Dr. Merriam's opinion the apparent diminution in the number 

 of this beautiful bird is not due to feeding upon Doryphoras which had 

 been poisoned by Paris green. We also mentioned the Crow and the 

 common Quail as feeders upon the beetle, and are glad to note the 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo as a new enemy to it. 



PROF. L. H. bailey's SPRAYING DEVICE. 



Prof. L. H. Bailey, in Bulletin No. 18 of the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station of Cornell University, has recommended the adoption of " a 

 spraying nozzle which is no nozzle at all." It consists simply of a de- 

 vice for pinching the mouth of the hose. A string pulls a lever which 

 presses an arm against the end of the tube, flattening it against a 

 stationary bit of metal opposite. The device is not patented, and it is 

 expected that in the form of a little brass attachment it will be offered 

 for sale by seedsmen. This arrangement will answer for certain kinds 

 of spraying, but it will hardly answer for the application of certain 

 insecticides where experiment has shown that the finer the spray the 

 more satisfactory is the result. 



SILK- WORM DISEASE IN CHINA. 



The total silk crop in China last year was 25 to 30 per cent, larger than 

 the previous one, a fact which warrants the belief that the silk- worm 

 disease in North China is not spreading, and that there is no necessity 

 for adopting the measures for its extirpation which were in contempla- 

 tion last. That the disease exists has, however, been abundantly 

 proved ; but, according to the last consular report from Shanghai, ex- 

 periments have shown that the Chinese silk-worms are constitutionally 

 much stronger than their European congeners, and that even when the 

 worms are diseased eggs may be produced, when under like circum- 

 stances it would be almost impossible to obtain them from European 

 silk-worms. It is feared by experts that in districts where silk-worm 

 disease spreads silk will in time cease to be produced. Meanwhile 

 those who urge the necessity of preventive measures such as have been 

 taken in Japan state that the quality of Chinese silk is deteriorating and 

 that of Japanese is improving. In addition to the advisability of ex- 

 tirpating disease by selecting the best silk- worms and securing the sur- 



