REPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1899 



575 



others open. Only one lot was found in the woods uncovered by leaves, 

 this occuring in a spot where a brush heap had been burned the preced- 

 ing year, and here 30 or 40 chambers were found. The insects have 

 also appeared at Balona, Mays Mill and Long point. At the last place 

 they are reported as destroying two large vineyards. Caterpillars of the 

 black swallowtail [Papilio polyxenes] are eating down young 

 celery. June 23. 



EXHIBITION OF INSECTS AT AGRICULTURAL 

 GATHERINGS 



The opportunities agriculturists have of visiting museums to study 

 insect pests are necessarily limited, and not every farmer finds time to 

 look through the many bulletins and other publications so freely dis- 

 tributed, or, if one has a few hours, the desirable article can not always be 

 found. Alter all, the true way to learn is to see the creatures themselves, 

 preferably living but much better dead than not at all, and to inspect 

 their work. The observations of most growers are usually confined to 

 the field and are limited to the destructive stage, the round of life being 

 but partly understood. It is believed that a properly arranged biologic 

 collection, representing the various stages of the principal insect pests, 

 their work and any peculiarities they possess, will do much to increase 

 the interest in insects, and should promote their more general study in 

 the field, thus leading to their better control. As museums are few and 

 widely scattered, one way to bring about this very desirable end is found 

 in carrying small exhibits to places where the classes to be benefited 

 assemble, viz : agricultural fairs, farmers' institutes, grange meetings and 

 similar gatherings. 



The interest manifested in the initial exhibit prepared for the state 

 fair, held at Syracuse, Sep. 4-9 and subsequently shown at the Oswego 

 county fair, held at Oswego Falls, Sep. 12-15 demonstrates the value of 

 this work. The collection, contained in 12 glass covered cases, each 

 3x16x19 inches, consisted of over 100 species of the more injurious and 

 more beneficial insects. The cases were arranged on a special table and 

 were surrounded most of the time by a group deeply interested in learn- 

 ing about the common pests they had been obliged to fight so long. 

 At the state fair nearly 2000 descriptive catalogues were distiibuted to 

 those showing marked interest in the collection, and this number repre- 

 sents only a small proportion of those who looked at the collection, for 



