358 



It lias been suggested that the stumps of split Cabbage Palm be si^riukled 

 with a Paris greeu solution, but no exx^eriments have been tried to as- 

 certain whether the application of the poison will vitiate the attract- 

 iveness of the bait. It seems to us, however, that this vrill probably 

 prove a fairly satisfactory remedy. Mangoes and other fruit, crushed 

 and allowed to ferment, will also prove suitable bait, and the cutting- 

 down of wild x^alms in the neighborhood in order to catch the beetles 

 visiting the stumps is also recommended. The latter plan, however, is 

 a little dangerous, since these stumps and logs will become breeding 

 places and will require constant watching. Mr. Blandford in his bib- 

 liograx)hy has overlooked our short notes on the stibject in Insect Life. 

 (See vol. I, p. 14, and vol. iv. pp. 136-137.) Five years ago we rec- 

 ommended the plan of cutting off a palmetto plant, say one foot from 

 the ground, and capturing the beetles on the stump. In Vol. iv we 

 elaborated this plan to some extent in the following words: 



Tliere is, however, a preventive metliod, and this consists in cntting down or 

 wounding several young trees of any wild species of palm growing in the vicinity 

 of the cocoanut trees. The fermenting sap of the trunks of such trees, as you have 

 yourself seen, attracts the beetles strongly, and a multitude of them can thus easily 

 be cai^tured and killed before they have oviposited. The trunks of the felled trees 

 will soon be filled with the larvae, and the infested portion should be sawed off and 

 burned before the larv■^e have matured. If concerted action on the part of owners 

 of cocoanut trees could be obtained, this method would no doubt materially contrib- 

 ute toward a diminution in the mumber of the beetles and a consequent lessening 

 of the damage to the cocoanut trees. 



ALI-AI FOE EOSE CHAFEES. 



There occasionally appears in the columns of the agricultural press 

 an account of the successful use of an alum solution against the Eose 

 Chafer. We notice, for instance, an article in the J[assacJiusetts 

 Flougliman of December 17, 1892, by James W. Gage, of Lowell, Mass.. 

 who sprayed his vineyard the i^reviotis spring with a solution of alum 

 at the rate of one pound to four gallons of water. The application was 

 made in the evening and the next morningthe insects had disappeared. 

 He is not of the opinion that the solution kills them, but that it is dis- 

 tasteful and drives them off. Such articles as these are liable to induce 

 a considerable expense in exi)erimentation on the part of other grape 

 and rose growers and the remedy will be undoubtedly ineffectual 

 where the insects are numerous. Accurate experiments have been 

 made by Prof. J. B. Smith, of Xew Brunswick. X. J., which are recorded 

 tipon page 31 of his bulletin on the Eose Chafer. He found that at a 

 strength of one pound to two gallons of water the mixture was per- 

 fectly ineffectual. It was so strong that a white deposit lasting several 

 days was produced ux>on the plants, but the beetles were not kept off". 

 Specimens of the insects dipped in the mixture were not in the least 

 incommoded. 



