SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. JULY 4. 



Ixxv 



and Dia.spis Carueli (scale insect 1 . A large number of varieties of Chinese 

 Conifers had been attacked and destroyed. 



Pear Midge. — Mr. Saunders, F.L.S., reported as follows upon this 

 pest : — M The pear nudge (Diplosis pynvora) seems to be spreading more 

 and more every year in this country, and unless some means can be found 

 to check it pears will become a rare fruit. I think it is very clear that if all 

 fruit-growers in districts where this insect abounds would agree together 

 on some common line of action as regards the destruction of this pest, its 

 numbers would soon be very materially lessened, and in the course of a few 

 years it would be stamped out. These remarks apply to a very consider- 

 able number of injurious insects, which at present run riot among our 

 crops, and to check which isolated attempts are of little use, as a fresh 

 supply is always forthcoming from neighbours' gardens, xc. The pear 

 niilge lays its eggs in the blossoms before and after they open ; if before, 

 the ovipositor of the insect pierces the petals, and the eggs are laid on the 

 anthers : if the flowers are already open, they are deposited in the ovary : 

 in either case the young larva? find their food close at hand when they are 

 hatched. In June they leave the fruit, sometimes before it has fallen, 

 sometimes afterwards. They then bury themselves in the soil H inch, 

 or perhaps somewhat deeper, and become pupa?, from which the flies 

 emerge in the spring just before the flower- buds open. The best means 

 of destroying this pest are — (1] by strewing kainit under the trees at the 

 rate of -4 oz. to the square yard early in June, so that the grubs may fall on 

 it ; or (2) in the course of the winter remove the top soil to the depth of 

 2 inches, and either burn it or bury it not less than a foot below the 

 surface, or trench the ground under the trees in the winter, which will 

 bury the pupa? so deep that the flies cannot find their way to the surface ; 

 <3) in the spring, before the time that the flies make their appearance, 

 the ground under the trees should be rolled, so that it will make the 

 escape of the flies more difficult through the hard soil. In orchards 

 where grass grows under the trees it is impossible to employ these 

 methods. In that case the grass should be thoroughly drenched with a 

 strong solution of paraffin emulsion early in April, in order to destroy the 

 flies as they are leaving the soil, and again in June, when the grubs are 

 leaving the fruit. If it be found that nearly the whole crop is infected, it 

 should be gathered and burnt while the grubs are still in the fruit. 



Interesting Orchids. — Mr. F. W. Moore, Y.M.H., sent the following 

 interesting orchids from the Botanic Gardens. Glasnevin : — 



No. 1. Stauropsis fasciata, a native of Malaya, and a rare species, 

 belonging to the distichous -leaved section. It is rarely found in collec- 

 tions, and is remarkable for the curious shape of the lip and its 

 attachment. 



No. 2. Bulbophyllum sauroeephalum, also a rare plant, native of the 

 Philippines. It is remarkable for its swollen peduncle, and belongs to the 

 clavate group. The species in this group are closely allied, and are all 

 characterised by the swollen flower-stalk, in which the flowers are 

 generally sunk. 



No. 3. Bulbophyllum quad rit art mm (Rolfe). This is a new species 

 from Madagascar, recently named and described. I: is very rare, and is 

 remarkable in having a portion of the peduncle carrying the flowers quite 



