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substance for an animal substance. As soon as this process is completed both the 
caterpillar and the fungus die, and become dry and hard, but without shriveling 
at all. The thing is then a wooden caterpillar, so to say, with a wooden bulrush 
standing up from its neck. 
In China the head of the bulrush is gathered, carefully tied in little bundles, and 
sold at a high price for medical purposes. The native physicians use it in cases of 
diseases of the throat and lungs. : 
The accompanying figures illustrate the parasitized grub in the earth 
(Fig. 24) and acommercial bundle of larve and fungi. The first is copied 
from a drawing sent by Mr. Jones, and the second is drawn from the 
specimens themselves. 
THE DIFFICULTY OF DISINFECTING IMPORTED PLANTS. 
On page 441, volume II, we published an account of certain experi- 
ments with date palms introduced by the Pomologist of the Department, 
in which we endeavored to eradicate the scale insects with which the 
plants were infested. We there showed how great was the difficulty in 
effecting a complete extermination of the scales by means of the insec- 
ticide washes which are so successful in the orchard. We notice that 
Mr. Alexander Craw, of California, in pursuance of his duties as quar- 
antine officer, has been having the same difficulty with regard to the 
scales upon orange trees imported from the Sandwich Islands. It is 
stated in the California Fruit Grower of August ist that after fumigat- 
ing four times with hydrocyanic gas the scales were not all killed. 
The writer of the note in the California paper deduces from this fact 
the conclusion that if this repeated application of the most powerful 
of our “disinfectants” does not entirely destroy the scale on nursery 
stock there is little chance of eradicating the same pest in orchards, 
and that the only panacea for this is to be found in nature’s own rem- 
edy, the parasites. He seems to have overlooked the point, however, 
that these scales upon more or less dormant trees during shipment are 
themselves to a certain extent dormant and much more than normally 
resistant and that the same application which failed to destroy. these 
would undoubtedly prove more efficacious in the growing orchard. 
A very full report of Mr. Craw’s experiments and the difficulty which 
he had in performing his duties on account of strenuous objections from 
the consignees is given in the Pacific Rural Press of September 12. 
The whole matter was thrown into the courts and a decision was reached 
that the trees should remain in quarantine until the owners could prove 
that they were clean. The scale insects infesting these particular trees 
were determined by Mr. Craw as follows: Mytilaspis citricola, Lecanium 
hesperidum, Aspidiotus rapax Aspidiotus limoni, Aspidiotus sp. near ficus, 
Parlatoria sp., Dactylopius citri, Chionaspis biclavis. Of these the 
Dactylopius and Chionaspis were found the most difficult to kill, the 
latter being a mining scale. 
