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berry; this past summer it acted as if it was troubled with leaf blight. I sprayed | 
four times with copper solution and three times with London purple, tono purpose; 
also looked for borers, but found none, or any signs, except that the bark at the base 
of the tree had turned black. Ihave just dug up the tree and found twenty-seven of 
these worms eating the roots.—[H. H. Gushee, Tennessee, November 7, 1891. 
RepLy.—* * ~* The large grubs which you send are the larve of one of the 
long-horned beetles known as Orthosoma brunneum. These insects are not very 
abundant, and cases of damage to orchard trees are rare, so that you probably have 
no reason to fear any great injury from them.—[November 12, 1891. ] 
‘Was it Diabrotica 12-punctata ? 
The following extract from a letter written by Mr. Charles Yancey, of Bucking- 
ham, Va., dated March 8, 1828, and published in the American Farmer, Vol. 10. p. 3, 
describes a depredator whose method of work seems quite similar to that of this 
species. The writer was of the opinion that ‘‘ the fly” deposited its eggs in the fall, 
upon the stalks of Carrot weed and also on Hogweed. 
“Str: Tam much annoyed with a little white worm having a copper-colored head. 
They perforate the stalks of young corn just below the surface of the ground, which 
destroys its growth. The corn is not exempt from their depredations until it joints. 
I have listed my corn lands, leaving the clover in the middle of the rows to supply 
them with food. This is a palliative but not a remedy.” 
For my own part I can not call to mind any insect except the larve of Diabrotica 
12-punctata, Which answers this description both as to form, color, and method of 
work.—[F. M. Webster, Ohio, December 28, 1891. 
The Clover-ieaf Beetle in western Pennsylvania. 
Phytonomus punctatus.—If not known from some other source, it may be of interest 
to state that this beetle has reached this part of Pennsylvania (Allegheny County), 
though its depredations have not attracted the attention of agriculturists as yet. 
Three years ago I saw specimens which were taken here and in the adjoining county 
of Westmoreland; this season, 1891, I took a few specimens in nearly every collecting 
tour in June to July, and saw on the pavements of the city an occasional individual. 
From the statements of collectors I learn it is how not uncommon in parts of West- 
moreland County.—[John Hamilton, M. D., Pennsylvania, December 11, 1891. 
The Rice Weevil in dry Hop Yeast. 
I to-day had a sample of dry hop yeast sent me from Ocala, Fla., filled with little 
black bugs, that bore through the yeast and apparently feed upon it. 
I would like to have you identify them for me. What I would like to know is: 
Are they peculiar to the southern climate, or are they a bug that attacks yeast in the 
northern latitudes?—[F. B. Thurber, New York, October 19, 1891. 
REPLY.—The “little black bugs” in dry hop yeast are specimens of the so-called 
Rice Weevil, a cosmopolitan insect which feeds upon all stored farinaceous products 
and upon drugs and many other substances, seeming to prefer those which have a 
vegetable origin. They are more liable to abound in southern climates, but if they 
once obtain a foothold in an establishment like yours in New York, they will be lia- 
ble to do considerable damage. Their occurrence in dry yeast is not remarkable, 
but so far as I know it has not been reported before.—[ October 21, 1891.] 
How to kill Tree-borers. 
Quite a number of ways for destroying the larve of various kinds that live in the 
bark and sapwood of the apple and other varieties of fruit trees, have been published, 
but none of them are as good, in my judgment, as the way that I now recommend. 
