I905-] 



Importation of Insect Pests. 



163 



several holes are likely to give poor plants and some may give 

 none. 



3. If, however, it is wished to plant the beans without keeping 

 them the beetles can easily be killed by the following means : — 

 Place the beans to be treated in an air-tight receptacle or box. 

 Pour some bisulphide of carbon in a saucer, and lay the saucer 

 on the top of the beans and close the box, keeping it closed for 

 twenty-four or forty-eight hours. The fumes of the bisulphide 

 of carbon, which are heavier than air and very poisonous, will 

 kill all the beetles. One ounce of bisulphide of carbon would 

 do for 40 cubic feet of space, or 1 oz. for every 100 lb. of seed. 

 The operator must not bring a naked light near the bisulphide 

 of carbon and he must be careful not to breathe the fumes. 



Starlings almost invariably utilise holes for breeding, and 



they have, both in Belgium and Germany, been long supplied 



with artificial nesting-boxes where natural 



Destruction nesting-places are not available. A box 

 of Insects by ■ . , . , . , > . , , 

 Starling's 10 to 12 inches in depth and 0 inches by 



6 inches in cross section, with a sloping and 



slightly overhanging roof, and a hole 2 to 2\ inches in diameter 



near the top, with a perch below, is commonly used for this 



purpose. Some years ago, in a large and richly stocked nursery 



in Belgium, chafer beetles became so numerous as to be a very 



serious infestation. After frying by all known means to eradi- 



cate'them, the proprietor observed that starlings devoured large 



numbers both of the larvae and the mature insects. Taking a 



lesson from this, he erected about half a dozen nesting boxes on 



15 feet poles, and as they were immediately occupied by the 



birds he continued to provide boxes until 125 were in use. The 



result was that the chafer infestation grew gradually less and 



was finally completely overcome. 



A law prohibiting the impDrtation or transportation of insect 



pests was approved by Congress on March 3rd, 1905. It is to the 



effect that no one shall transport from one 



Importation of state to another, or from a forei gm countrv 

 Insect Pests into . . . TT . , c . . . ^ u 

 the United States. into the Unlted States > the ZW s y moth ' 

 brown-tail moth, leopard moth, plum cur- 



culio, hop plant louse, boll weevil, or other insect in a live state 



O 2 



