304 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



observed most of the stages as described by Mottier during spindle 

 formation. At no period in the cell history is a centrosome visible. 



M. C. C. 



Entomology, Economic, in Ohio. By F. M. Webster (U.S.A. 

 Shi. Hort. Soc. Ohio, pp. 117-140 ; 1901). — Among other insects men- 

 tioned in this report the Willow and Poplar curculio (or weevil) (Crypto- 

 rhynchus lapathi), an insect common in Europe, Siberia, and Japan, is 

 noted as a new pest in Ohio, attacking Willows, Poplars, and Birches. 

 The following interesting note also appears : "It is rather strange, but 

 nevertheless true, that a species of insect will seem to take on a new food 

 habit over the entire country at about the same time. . . . The Colorado 

 Potato beetles this summer took to Tomatos, not only in Ohio, but in 

 other States and in Canada. We have known that they would attack the 

 Tomato, but last year there seemed to come over them a sudden mania in 

 that direction, as if the fact had been telegraphed all over the country. 

 . . . One of our common cutworms attacked Carnations in greenhouses. 

 . . . When I came to report the matter as out of the ordinary, as indeed 

 it was, I found the complaint was almost general, and everywhere equally 

 unusual." — F. J. C. 



Entomological Notes and Inspection Report for 1901 of 

 Illinois State. By S. A. Forbes, State Entomologist (U.S.A. Hort. Soc. 

 Illinois, 1901, pp. 142-154). — The Cankerivorm. — The cankerworm has 

 made such steady and rapid increase in this State and elsewhere that 

 special investigations have been made with reference to it and with a 

 view to discovering the best means of combating it. As the author points 

 out, giant Elms of many years' growth — the pride of the owners and an 

 ornament to the town — may be injured beyond remedy or completely 

 destroyed by these insignificant insects if they are allowed to work 

 unhindered for two or three years. The loss thus inflicted is not a 

 pecuniary one merely, for the value of an old Elm is not to be counted in 

 dollars and cents. 



A clue to the control of the cankerworm is to be found in its life- 

 history and in the peculiar character of the female moth. The eggs are 

 laid as a rule in March or April in irregular masses, commonly concealed 

 under pieces of loose bark and the like, and they hatch from about mid- 

 April to the end of May. They reach full size in three or four weeks. 

 Then they enter the ground to the depth of two to five inches, change to 

 the pupa state, and come forth as an adult moth in the following spring 

 or earlier. The male moth is a rather thin-winged delicate-looking 

 creature, while the female is wholly without wings. Two remedies are 

 available, the one applying to the orchard and the other to the large 

 shade trees. In the orchard a thorough spraying of arsenic or Paris 

 green will destroy the cankerworm. Two sprayings may be necessary, as 

 the eggs do not seem to hatch all at once. The first should be applied 

 shortly after the opening of the leaf buds and the second in about ten days. 

 For large trees bands impassable by the female should be placed around 

 the trunks early in spring, the object being of course to prevent the 

 mother moth from going up the tree to deposit eggs. The band may be 



