REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



405 



Mr. Lintner's recommendations, with which the fanners of the affected region are 

 undoubtedly familiar, are excellent, and I would strongly indorso them so far as they 

 ran bo practically carried out, though it seems to mo that they must necessarily fall 

 short of being generally adopted without some obligatory legislation or some compen- 

 sation from the State. At the present time the principal advice I would give would 

 be to thoroughly burn all possible rubbish that may be accumulated about the 

 farms and under which the mature insects may have hibernated. The leaves in 

 adjoining forests should also be burned. The old grass in the meadows should be 

 bin ned wherever it is possible, and, with the aid of a scattering of straw during a 

 favorable spell of weather, most fields can bo burned over. In addition to this, deep 

 plowing and heavy rolling, especially in the higher and drier parts of fields that have 

 already been infested, will prove useful auxiliaries. 



So far as we can learn the present season the result has justified our 

 prediction rather than that of Mr. Lintner. Although we have written 

 repeatedly to Mr. King, the gentleman on whose farm the bugs were 

 first noticed, we have been able to get no answer from him ; but the pa- 

 pers 4iave contained no notice of injury, while last year they sounded 

 the note of alarm from Maine to Illinois. 



From Mr. W. H. Knox, the statistical correspondent of the Depart- 

 ment for Saint Lawrence County, we have received the following in re- 

 ply to inquiries addressed to him : 



Canton, N. Y., August 7, 1884. 

 Sir: In reply to your inquiries regarding depredations of the Chinch-bug, I have 

 but little to report. The town of Hammond had some trouble a year ago, though but 

 a small area was affected. I cannot ascertain that there has been any trouble since. 

 The probability is that no damage worthy of any consideration will be done this year 

 in this locality. 



Respectfully, 



W. H. KNOX, 

 Statistical correspondent Saint Lawrence County, New York. 



C. V. Riley, 



United States Entomologist. 



NOTES ON THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA. 



The following correspondence is deemed of sufficient interest to war- 

 rant publication, as setting forth many of the well-established facts not 

 generally understood in reference to Phylloxera vastatrix Planchon, and 

 as indicating the limits within which legislative enactments for the pre- 

 vention of its introduction from one country to another should be con- 

 fined: 



REGARDING THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA IN RUSSIA. 



Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C, January 22, 1884. 

 Sir: In reply to the communication of the honorable the Secretary of State of the 

 21st instant, inclosing one from Baron Struve, the Russian minister, asking for infor- 

 mation in reference to the Grape Phylloxera, I have the honor to send you the follow- 

 ing reply : 



In reference to the efforts made and the results obtained in this country to destroy 

 che Grape-vine Phylloxera, it will be necessary to a proper statement of the caso to 

 briefly give an account of the insect. The literature is so voluminous that it is use- 

 less to refer to particular works. Those in this country upon the subject are chiefly 

 my own writings, cont ained in the 4th, 5th, Cth, 7th, and bth reports on the insects of 

 Missouri, published during the years 1871-1876. These are, unfortunately, State doc- 

 uments, and most of them are now scarce -and very difficult to obtain. I transmit 

 herewith, however, from my own library, the 6th, 7th, and 8th, which I beg Baron 

 Struve will be pleased to accept. Some briefer articles on the subject will be found 

 in the Department Reports for 1870, 1871, 1873, 1874, and 1878, which I would also sug- 

 gest be transmitted. It is made manifest in these writings and has long been ac- 

 cepted in Europe, that the Phylloxera is indigenous to North America east of the 

 Rocky Mountains, having always occurred on our vines from the time they were first 

 cultivated. It does more or less damage to a few of our native vines, especially to 

 those that are hybridized with the European vine ( Vitis vinifera), but most of them 



