12 TWENTY-NINTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



destroy this moth, and one species, in particular, if properly introduced into a new- 

 country infested with the moth, leaving behind the secondary form, would soon bring 

 the moth into subjection. It is interesting to watch the performance of this ichneumon 

 fly in her search over the stem of an apple tree for the hiding place of a codling-moth 

 larva ; where one was located, she would at once elevate her long ovipositor in a loop 

 over her back, with its tip on the bark directly over the place where the moth larva or 

 pupa would be located, and as soon as the opening by which the larva had entered was 

 found, she would then make a derrick out of her body, and with great skill would pro- 

 ceed to search for the moth grub with her long ovipositor, and as soon as it would come 

 into contact with one, she would immediately deposit her egg in the pupa or grub of 

 the moth. In one instance, a grub, when it found it was being attacked, made a hasty 

 exit from beneath the bark and proceeded to crawl up the stem of the tree, but before it 

 had proceeded more than one inch, was discovered by the fly, who at once changed her 

 position and attacked the naked grub, in which an egg was deposited. This grub was 

 placed in a breeding tube, where it at once assumed the chrysalis form, and from this 

 was reared a parasite. 



I have received letters from fruit-growers asking if such was the 

 fact, and urging the importance of its introduction into California. It 

 is to be hoped that we will be able, before the apple trees bloom in the 

 coming spring, to send George Compere to Europe to collect these para- 

 sites and to have them distributed in California. Mr. Compere is now 

 in the service of the Agricultural Department of Western Australia 

 and is traveling in India in search of the parasite of the fruit-fly. 



The Horticultural Commission, Avhich I direct under the charge of 

 the Governor, will have at the St. Louis Exposition a cabinet contain- 

 ing the noxious insects which have disturbed our fruit and fruit trees, 

 with their parasites and predaceous insects, side by side, to be viewed 

 through a microscope. The purpose of this exhibit is the hope that 

 such an object lesson will give new impulse to the principle of keeping 

 in check, by means of their natural enemies, all noxious insects that 

 disturb plant life and its fruits. The practical demonstration of this 

 principle, which exists through all nature, is one of the great discov- 

 eries of the age, and ought to place California fruit-growers on a higher 

 plane of economics than can be claimed by any other people. We will 

 have, also, a cabinet containing copies of all the reports and bulletins 

 issued by the State Board of Horticulture from its organization doAvn 

 to the present time, and which will include the report of the proceed- 

 ings of this Convention. 



Forestry and Rainfall. — The subject of the preservation of forests and 

 the planting of forest trees, on which I have discoursed in previous 

 addresses, has been omitted, for the reason that the National Govern- 

 ment has taken up this important work, as have also boards of trade, 

 chambers of commerce, and other local organizations, so that anything 

 I could say would not materially increase the interest. However, 

 having received the Government's official report of the rainfall in the 

 Middle West, it might be interesting to show the gradual decrease in 

 each decade for the past fifty years. I quote the following: 



It is frequently said that the rainfall of the Mississippi Valley States is not as heavy 



