5i6 



Dry Rot. 



The trees should be washed with caustic alkali wash in winter, 

 and with arsenate of lead and paraffin emulsion in early spring. 

 The latter wash should also be applied when the leaves are out, 

 and again after the blossom has fallen. Recent observations 

 show that arsenate of lead is more effective than Paris green 

 for destroying all mandibulate fruit pests. 



Long-Horned Locust. 



Specimens of a " long-horned locust " (a species of Diestrem- 

 mend) were recently found to be damaging the spikes of Hip- 

 peastrums in a nursery at Richmond, and another specimen was 

 recently found in a cellar in London. The natural home of this 

 insect is China and Japan, and the insects which were found at 

 Richmond were no doubt brought over with consignments of 

 lily bulbs from Japan. As both male and female mature insects 

 were present in the nursery, and as this locust has now been 

 found in two different localities, there seems to be a possibility 

 that it might breed here under favourable conditions, though 

 probably not in the open air. 



Dry Rot. 

 (Merulius lacrymans, Fries.) 



As a destroyer of timber used in the construction of dwelling- 

 houses, the fungus popularly known as " dry rot " has been too 

 well known for many years. Notwithstanding modern improve- 

 ments in ventilation, &c, the disease appears to be gradually 

 gaining ground, owing mainly to the following causes : (i) The 

 use of immature and imperfectly seasoned wood ; (2) the 

 rapidity with which modern houses are built, resulting in the 

 imprisonment of too much moisture in the material used. 



Infection with the dry rot fungus sometimes takes place in 

 the forest, when felled timber remains stored there for some 

 time. The first evidence of such infection is indicated by the 

 presence of red stripes in the sawn wood. If such wood is 

 thoroughly seasoned the mycelium present in the red stripes, 

 is killed. If this precaution is neglected, or imperfectly done 



