406 
we now learn from the New Zealand Farmer of February last that the 
insect has spread, and occurs in a number of districts. Two annual 
crops of wheat are grown in New Zealand, and the article referred to 
anticipates that there will be three or perhaps four generations of the 
Hessian Fly in that colony. The remedies recommended in the third 
report of the U. 8. Entomological Commission are summed up, and the 
Ministry of Agriculture is urged to print in concise form matter upon 
the life-history and remedies, and distribute it throughout the wheat- 
growing regions of the colony. This same journal in 1887 was strenu- 
ous in its warnings to the Department of Agricuiture concerning the 
introduction of this insect in packing straw from Europe and America, 
but no precautions were taken. The source of the infestation is not 
known. 
INCREASE OF THE WHEAT STRAW-WORM. 
Recent reports from Lincoln and McPherson counties, Kansas, indi- 
cate thatthe Wheat Straw-worm (Jsosoma tritici) has been on the increase 
for several years past. Many wheat fields in central Kansas were 
seriously damaged during the season of 1891 by this insect. As we 
have frequently pointed out, wheat growers are always able, by the 
sacrifice of one crop of straw, to effectually control this pest, as the 
great majority of the larve feed in the stalk above the point of cutting. 
GREAT DAMAGE BY BUFFALO GNATS. 
We notice in the Jowa State Register for May 15 a statement coming 
as a telegraphic dispatch from Louisville, Ky., dated May 8, to the 
effect that a report from western Kentucky estimates that 1,000 horses 
have been killed by Buffalo Gnats this year. It is likely that this 
report is exaggerated, but there is little doubt that the gnats are 
more abundant than usual this year. It will be noted again that this 
is a year of floods, and the old relations between the gnats and the 
overflow of the Mississippi River are sustained. | 
THE HOP LOUSE IN OREGON. 
A strong defense of true scientific work has recently been made by 
Mr. F. L. Washburn, in the columns of the Morning Oregonian of Wed- 
nesday, Junel. In this article Mr. Washburn reviews the life-history 
of the Hop Plant-louse (Phorodon humuli) and handles without gloves 
the statements of certain hop growers who claim to have proved that 
the life-history of this insect as published by the senior editor is 
incorrect. An intelligent hop grower, Mr. T. D. Linton, of Eugene, 
Oregon, one of Mr. Washburn’s correspondents, has followed the early 
generations on Plum with extreme care, and fully substantiates our ~ 
publishedrecords. The publication of premature and unwise statements 
regarding supposed discoveries of other food-plants and other modes of — 
hibernation than those which are normal to the species has done much 
