BOOKS AND 



apprehended from its use. 4. That spraying with the 

 arsenites is cheaper and more practical than any other 

 known method of preventing the injuries of this insect." 

 The plum experiment of this season gave a remarkable 

 illustration of the benefits of spraying. The untreated 

 trees ' ' set a good crop of fruit, but it was entirely ruined 

 by the curculio, not a single plum being left to mature. 

 The crop in the orchard, however, was immense, one- 

 half the fruit on many of the trees being artificially 

 thinned, and then bearing so much that the limbs bent 

 to the ground, and in some cases broke on account of the 

 great weight. " 



Mr. Weed has made extensive experiments with that 



persistent pest, the striped cucumber bee- 

 Striped tie. This is one of the worst insects in the 

 Cucumber vegetable garden. "Fencing out the in- 

 Beetle, sects by covering the plants with some form 



of tent or gauze-covered frame" was the 

 only entirely satisfactory method of preventing devas- 

 tation. "The cheapest and most successful method em- 

 ployed is that of protecting each hill by a piece of plant- 

 cloth or cheese-cloth about two feet square. This may 

 be done simply by placing it over the plants and fasten- 

 ing the edges down by small stones and loose earth. It 

 is better, however, to hold it up by means of a half- 

 barrel hoop or a wire bent in the form of a croquet 

 arch." Several styles of these coverings are figured. 

 Other methods employed were the use of hen manure, 

 cow manure, kerosene, carbolic acid, bisulphide of car- 

 bon, coal-soot, saltpeter, gypsum, pyrethrum, slug shot 

 and peroxide of silicates. Of these, peroxide of silicates 

 "had a decided effect in preventing injury, and where 

 the plants had been well started before being attacked 

 saved them from destruction. But it did not save them 

 where the beetles were so numerous that they burrowed 

 down to meet the sprouting plants." 



The strawberry root-louse is a new insect which Mr. 



Weed names Apliis Forhesii, in honor of 

 New Professor S. A. Forbes, who first called at- 



Strawberry tention to it. It has proved a serious pest 

 Insect. in some parts of Ohio and Illinois, and is 



no doubt distributed elsewhere. The in- 

 sects appear in great numbers, from July to the close of 

 the season, "on the crowns and between the bases of 

 the roots, at and just beneath the surface of the earth." 

 The remedies appear to be rotation, and the disinfecting 

 of plants taken from lousy plantations, by dipping the 

 roots and crowns of the plants in kerosene emulsion. 



The common currant worm is destroyed by hellebore, 

 either in water or dry. Observations upon 

 Currant this pest indicate that when the bushes are 

 Insects. stripped of their leaves the fruit crop of the 

 succ.eeding year is apt to be light. The green 

 leaf-hopper, which attacks the leaves of currants and 

 gooseberries, causing numerous small white spots to ap- 

 pear upon the upper surface, is easily held in check by 

 pyrethrum, applied before the insects are fully grown. 

 Tobacco dust is also a good remedy. 



BULLETINS. 53 



The leaf-hopper insects often do great injury to the 

 leaves of rose bushes, both out of doors 

 and under glass. Mr. Weed finds that it Rose 

 is easily destroyed by applying pyrethrum Leaf-Hopper, 

 before the insects are fully grown. To- 

 bacco dust or decoction, and whale-oil soap are also good. 



The well-known cherry slug has been the subject of 

 attention, and it is found that hellebore, 

 either dry or in water: pyrethrum, either Cherry Slug, 

 dry or in water, and london purple, were 

 all effective remedies. 



Mr. Weed is one of the first to successfully apply fun- 

 gicides upon a large scale for the purpose 

 of combatting the dreaded potato-rot or Treatment of 

 blight. Two acres of potatoes were set Potato-rot. 

 aside for experiment. Bordeaux mixture 

 was sprayed upon a part of the plantation on May 28, 

 June 6, June 29 and July 16. To the Bordeaux mixture, 

 london purple was added, one ounce to ten gallons, to 

 destroy the potato bug. The conclusions of this experi- 

 ment are of great importance : "i. A large proportion 

 of the injury done by the potato rot can be prevented by 

 spraying the vines with the Bordeaux mixture. 2. This 

 treatment frequently diminishes the amount of scab af- 

 fecting the. tubers. 3. By adding london purple to the 

 mixture, the same treatment may be made effective in 

 preventing the injuries both of the rot and Colorado 

 potato beetle. " 



Bulletin No. 2, Second Series, Maine Experiment 

 Station. The Apple Maggot and Potato-Rot . By F. L. 

 Harvey. Pp. S. This pest, of comparatively recent in- 

 troduction into orchards, has been studied 

 during two years, and Professor Harvey rec- Apple 

 ommends the following means of keeping it Maggot, 

 in check, "i. Thoroughly and promptly de- 

 stroy all refuse from infested fruits, apple pomace, 

 waste about the house, etc. 2. Promptly destroy wind- 

 fall apples and infested fruit. 3. Destruction should be 

 immediate after the first of Angust, and nothing short 

 of deep burying, burning or feeding to swine or cattle 

 will be effective. 4. These precautions should be uni- 

 versally adopted. 5. The sale or importation of in- 

 fested fruit should be prohibited." 



In Maine the flies appear early in July and ' ' continue 

 to emerge from the ground for about six weeks or two 

 months. They soon begin to deposit eggs in the early 

 apples, which are at that time from one-half to two- 

 thirds grown." Each female is capable of laying over 

 300 eggs. There is no evidence of more than one brood. 



Bulletin No. 6, Illinois Experiment Station. A 

 Bacterial Disease of Corn. By T. J. Bitrrill. Pp. 12. 

 Ilin.itrated. This is one of the most valuable bulletins 

 of the year, inasmuch as it deals with a new malady of 

 one of our most important crops ; or, rather, it is the 

 first recognition of a very old malady, for "from ob- 

 servations now made, it appears that the disease is a 

 very prevalent one, and probably has existed during the 

 time that corn has been grown on the continent. If so, 

 it has not ordinarily attracted attention and very likely 



