475 



that for the previous five days he had been experimenting, and had dis- 

 covered that without doubt water heated even to a comi)aratively low 

 temperature will kill the beetles. He had ])reviously experimented with 

 vegetable infusioas, and was led to the discover^' by the fact that his 

 infusions were efficacious when warm, but useless when cold. He further 

 wrote that he conducted his experiments before Colonel Pearson and Mr. 

 John B. Smith, and that they would test the matter further. We im- 

 mediately wrote to one of our Virginia correspondents, Mr. J. S. Strayer, 

 of Port Pepublic, Virginia, asking him to test the remedy, and he re- 

 ported perfect success. 



On June 12 we again received a communication from Mr. Kellogg 

 confirming his previous information, and desiring us to take the matter 

 up by having a machine perfected for the application of steam. The 

 use of hot water for this purpose was also independently discovered by 

 Mr. E. S. Carman, of the Rural yew Yorker. Under date of June 22nd 

 Mr. Carman desired our opinion on an editorial note which was prepared 

 for his paper, and which gave an account of the means by which he had 

 arrived at the discover}-. He noticed that during the hottest part of 

 the day on June 15 the " Kose Bugs" sought shelter. He collected a 

 number and placed them in a white paper box and exposed the box to 

 the sun. In an hour or so the beetles were dead, when the temperature 

 in the box was found to be 110^. Dropping them upon the soil when 

 exposed to the direct rays of the sun had the same effect, and the beetles 

 died apparently in 30 seconds. The temperature of the soil was found 

 to be 129^. Other specimens were then placed in a box and a table- 

 spoonful of water of a temperature of 129^ was poured into the box and 

 immediately poured out. The beetles were instantly killed. Other ex- 

 periments were made with a spray pump, which resulted in the conclu- 

 sion that a comparatively close spray of 125^ temperature will invaria- 

 bly destroy the insect. 



The evidence, both of Mr. Kellogg and of Mr. Carman, would seem 

 to be so conclusive, that we were quite surprised, in some experiments 

 of our own, to find that it was not ver}- fully borne out. The season 

 for the Kose Chafer in Washington had well-nigh passed, and we found 

 comparatively few beetles to work upon. The experiments were con- 

 ducted at our residence, at Sunbury, by Messrs. Marlatt and Chitten- 

 den, of the Division, and they showed that even at a temperature of 

 of 135^ F. the beetles recovered slowly, after being actually immersed. 

 Others sprinkled at close quarters with water at this temperature recov- 

 ered, one flying away in two or three minutes afterwards. At 128°, 

 when immersed for five seconds, all experimented with recovered, 

 whereas two immersed one minute at a temperature of 125° were killed. 

 This difference in results is difficult to account for, and the matter is of 

 such great interest that we have sent Mr. A. B. Cordley to New Jersey 

 with a view of experimenting on a still larger scale not only with 

 hot water but also with steam, as it is evident that the use of hot 

 water, where it is to be applied at any height, has many impracti- 



