209 
Island. Mr. F. W. Terry of the Flawaiian Sugar Planters’ Asso- 
ciation kindly cooperated with our Division in this matter and 
we shall continue our investigations until we can be assured that 
the flies are being reduced by the parasite, Eucoila impatiens. 
During the month the following parasites and predaceous in- 
sects were liberated : 
5 colonies of Pimpla behrensii, 
7 colonies of Novius cardinalis, 
1 colony of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, 
1 colony of Sculellista cyanea, 
1 colony of Eucoila impatiens for Midway. 
By consent of the President of the Board, your Superintendent 
has been able to procure the services of Mr. D. H. Marsh as 
Assistant Entomologist. The position of Inspector’s Assistant 
will be vacant after August 1st, at which time Mr. Marsh will 
start upon his work. 
« 
Very truly yours, 
Edw. M. Ehrhorn, 
Superintendent of Entomology. 
Honolulu, July 1, 1910. 
INOCULATION AGAINST HUNGER. 
The new science of fertilizing ground for the farmer is de- 
scribed in the issue of Harper s Weekly for July 16th by Katha- 
rine Newbold Birdsall. How can the nitrogen in the air be 
brought down and made to enrich the soil? Certain plants, she 
says, have the property of absorbing this nitrogen, through the 
medium of millions of bacteria which gather the free nitrogen 
from the air. These are the clovers, pease, beans, peanuts, 
alfalfa, etc. The nodules which are formed on their roots by 
the bacteria contain millions of these beneficent germs, which 
can be cultivated in jelly, and distributed among farmers to be 
poured over seeds before planting at a cost of less than two 
dollars an acre. 
