OCT 20 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
683 
Soriclks. 
RECENT ADVANCES IN HORTICULTU¬ 
RAL ENTOMOLOGY. 
THE ADDRESS OF PROF. C. V. RILEY, U. S. EN¬ 
TOMOLOGIST, BEFORE THE AMERICAN 
FOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY AT 
PHILADELPHIA. 
Western Michigan Fair and its Disgrace¬ 
ful Abuses. The Great St. Louis Fair 
Triumph of the Herefords and 
Popularity of the Polled 
Angus at the Chicago 
Fair. Danbury 
Fair, Conn. 
(Special Stenographic Report.) 
“I have prepared no formal paper, not think¬ 
ing it necessary to weary the Society with a 
mere array of new insects injurious to fruits, 
although there are maoy that, might be dwelt 
upon to advantage. By new insects I do not 
mean necessarily that the species was before 
unknown, but rather such as had not previ¬ 
ously been recognized as destructive. Many 
interesting instances might be given of species 
Ion g known to entomologists, but previously 
innoxious, that had suddenly become destruc¬ 
tive to fruits. Sometimes with a change of 
habits there was a slight modification in char¬ 
acteristics.” Here the Professor cited several 
instances, and then continued. “I shall for 
the present, however, confiue my remarks to 
recent advances in reference to some of the 
better known and more destructive fruit in¬ 
sects. 
During the last seven or eight years I have 
been much engaged in the study of field in¬ 
sects, or those destructive to grain, and, more 
particularly, to the cotton plant. In my 
earlier work, however, I gave much attention 
to those affecting the horticulturist, having 
published a good deal of original matter in 
reference to them in my earlier reports as 
State Entomologist of Missouri — matter 
which, I may say, has formed the foundation 
for much subsequent writing because it was 
the result of original investigation. 
First, then, let me allude to the Codling 
Moth; and, speaking of this insect reminds me 
that my maiden essay was upon this subject. 
It was read by our late member, Dr. Warder, 
before the Illinois State Society when one of 
our esteemed members now present,Mr. Earle, 
was president; and as a tribute to D>\ Ward¬ 
er’s unselfish and encouraging spirit, let me 
say that the kind and appreciative manner in 
which that essay was presented by him, did 
much to encourage me in ray future work. 
At that time this Codling Moth pest was 
thoroughly unknown in California in which 
State nono but fair apples were theu grown. 
But all this has been sadly changed in the in¬ 
terval, the insect having now spread over the 
whole State, and become one of the worst ene¬ 
mies of fruit growers. With all the activity 
there displayed in fighting it, and there is a 
State Board specially appointed for the pur¬ 
pose, I do'not find that there are in use there any 
new or improved methods beyond those which I 
recommended years ago, with the exception of 
the use of Paris-green, This has beeu st rongly 
urged by Prof. A. J. Cook aud others, and 
many orclmrcLists in the West, to clay use it in 
preference to all other insecticides. Experi¬ 
ence seems to indicate that it is effectual aud 
that little danger follows its use on the early 
crop. But I cnnnofc overcome a disinclination 
to recommend it, especially since the late Dr. 
Hull, while State Horticulturist of Illinois, 
maintained that he had found that slaked lime 
dusted on the trees, was equally effectual. I 
would say, however, that further exact exper¬ 
imentation as to the efficacy of both these sub¬ 
stances for t his part icular purpose, is still need¬ 
ed; and in any case they can hardly be as satis¬ 
factory for the second brood as for the first. 
Some discus don has arisen as to whether the 
w’orm ever leaves one apple for another. I can 
say positively that there is no doubt of the 
fact that it does. 
In reference to the Round-headed Apple- 
tree Borer, we find that writers still speak of 
the eggs being laid on the trunk of the tree. 
This statement occurs even in Saunders’s re¬ 
cent work, •• Insects Injurious to Fruits;” but, 
in reality, the eggs are always thrust into a 
slit under the bark and remain hidden. 
As to the Plum Curculio, l find nothing su¬ 
perior to the jarring—the pirocess recom¬ 
mended years ago. I place no faith in the re- 
pellant poWei’s of strong-smelling substances 
which we find repeatedly recommended in the 
agricultural press. 
In regard to the Raspberry and Blackberry 
Borer (Bembex marginata), I would say 
that contrary to the general statement and 
belief, the eggs are laid neither upon the 
canes nor the ground, but upon the leaves. 
The greatest advances, however, made in 
entomology, which are of special interest to 
horticulturists are in our knowledge of plant 
lice—Aphidte. Everybody must have no¬ 
ticed that many species, on tender plants as 
well as on fruit trees, while abundant in the 
early growing season, are often entirely ab¬ 
sent during the hot Summer months. It has 
generally been assumed that this was due to 
the work of natural enemies; but the recent 
researches of my friend J. Lichtenstein in 
France, have shown that some species have a 
migratory' habit, and live during the Summer 
on different plants. Observations w hich have 
been carried on at the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture indicate that the common Apple-tree 
Aphis feeds daring the hot Summer here on 
the roots of grass. 
I may say also that great additions to 
our knowledge of the scale insect family— 
Coccidse—have been made during the last few 
years. Professor Comstock has published 
much of interest in reference to the habits of 
many of them, and I will not stop now to dis¬ 
cuss them further. 
The chief progress^however. and that which 
I wish to present to the society more particu¬ 
larly at this time, is in improved insecticides, 
and particularly' the improved mechanical 
methods of applying them.” The Professor 
had a force-pump and several forms of novel 
spraying apparatus on the stage, which the 
members had already been examining with 
much interest and which he fully described 
and illustrated later on in his address, to their 
entire satisfactiou, at least as to the profuse 
spraying capabilities of the appliances. Con¬ 
tinuing, he said 
“If I were asked to enumerate the six most 
important substances that could be used for 
destroying insects above ground, I would 
mention, tobacco, soap, hellebore, arsenic, 
petroleum and pyTethruui. The first three are 
well known, and it is hardly necessary for me 
to detain the society with any remarks in 
reference to their value, further than to say 
that it has lately' been learned that the vapor 
of nicotine, that is, tobacco vapor, is not ouly 
very' effectual in destroying insects wherever 
it can be confined, as in greenhouses, but that 
it is less injurious to delicate plants than either 
the smoke or the liquid. This fact will ex¬ 
plain the efficacy of tobacco stems strewn 
upon the ground. As an instance of the good 
results attending the latter plan, I would cite 
the interesting experience of our friend Wil¬ 
liam Saunders in dealing with the Grape-leaf 
Hoppers. These until two years ago baffled 
all his efforts; they caused his grape leaves 
to turn yellow and fall prematurely in the 
grapery at Washington. But he found that 
by strewing the ground under the vines with 
the tobacco stems which wt re constantly' being 
moistened by the syringing, the leaves were 
preserved intact and he had no further trouble 
from that source. 
The last three substances—arsenic, petro¬ 
leum aud pyrethrum—have come into use 
during receut years; aud I may be pardoned 
for saying that they w’ere introduced mainly 
through my influence, having in the course of 
my work, made rnuuy' discoveries in regard 
to their value as insecticides. These have 
now also come to be so w'ell known that it is 
perhaps scarcely necessary to particularize as 
to their application. The arsenic—London- 
purple, Paris-green, or other preparation—has 
beeu more extensively used than any other 
substance, and where it can be used safely it 
is undoubtedly the most valuable of all. The 
value of different preparations of petroleum 
has also long boon known, as no other sub¬ 
stance is more destructive to insects generally. 
But the great trouble has beeu to use it with 
safety', because of the difficulty exiierieneed 
in mixing it with water or diluting it in some 
way. And just here our valuable uew dis¬ 
covery comes iu. If I had the proper iugre- 
dients at band, I could readily show you what 
I mean; but 1 have not. I can, however, 
show you the principle, which is very simple, 
by which 1 make a permanent kerosene 
emulsion. 1 take tw r o parts of kerosene with 
one of sour milk, and churn the mixture 
together by r means of a force pump, which 
produces a butter-like substance that is easily 
diluted to any degree with w-ater.” 
The Professor here took a pail of water, and 
with his pump and appliances illustrated the 
operation of “churning,” and subsequently he 
sprayed the liquid upon the iufested plants, 
which iu this case chanced to b? a crowd of 
interested members who had gathered near 
him eager to catch every word he said. 
“This," he continued, “ I believe to be not 
only one of the most invaluable iusecticides, 
but the only one that will effectually' destroy 
many of the worst pests which afflict the fruit 
grower. Mr. H. G. Hubbard, one of my as¬ 
sistants at Crescent City, Florida, has found 
such to be the case with reference to the scale 
insects which infest the orange trees. I may 
say that a permanent emulsion can also De 
made by substituting soap for milk, or a cer¬ 
tain proportion of dissolved soft soap could be 
added to the kerosene and milk. 
I gave the details in reference to the use and 
value of this kerosene emulsion more fully in 
my last Annual Report to the Department of 
Agriculture for 1881 and 1882, and in special 
bulletins issued since.” 
He then read some interesting extracts on 
the same subject from advance sheets of his 
forthcoming report. 
“ The value of this emulsion when applied 
by improved spraying machinery is not yet 
appreciated as it will be when it becomes 
better knowm. Recent experiments show that 
it can be used on almost all kinds of vegeta¬ 
tion without injury to the plants. 
In reference to pyrethrum, I find that it is 
most satisfactory when used for insects like 
the Cabbage Worm, and other troublesome 
pests of that nature. But its influence is of 
short duration at best, and much depends 
upon getting a fresh and unadulterated 
article. 
In regard to underground insects nothing 
effectual has been found so far. except bi¬ 
sulphide of carbon and napthaline. But I 
have every reason to believe that the kerosene 
emulsion can be successfully used here, and 
that it will prove to be the one of the most, if 
not the most, satisfactory meaus of destroying 
the dreaded Grape-vine Phylloxera. In speak¬ 
ing of the various insecticides before men¬ 
tioned, I should have said that all six of the 
substances to be used above ground may be 
used in liquid form, and I prefer to apply 
them in that way. The chief points in apply¬ 
ing any of these things, should be cheapness, 
forcible application, minimum quantity'. To 
secure these'ends to the best advantage, I have 
arranged a barrel and pump attachment 
which is designed to be connected with an 
ordinary' w'agon or cart. as you will find more 
fully described in my last annual Report. I 
now show you a model of this apparatus, the 
operation of which will be readily apparent 
to you. A rubber hose connects the barrel 
with the proximal end of the rod to which one 
or more spraying nozzles are attached. The 
wagon is driven through the orchard, and 
while one boy pumps, a second person walks 
along audthrusts the nozzle into the tree.throw- 
ingatine mist over every part of it,on the upper 
as well as on the lower sides of the leaves. 
A simple means of extending the reach may 
be secured by taking a bamboo rod, burning 
out the septa with a red hot iron and then 
putting a rubber tube through the hole, with 
a nozzle attached to the upper end. The 
tubes may also be made of brass and in sec¬ 
tions with nozzles spraying in different di¬ 
rections, along the sides. The form of spray¬ 
ing nozzle which 1 have found most conven¬ 
ient not ouly for this purpose, but also for 
spraying on the under side of low-growing 
plants from the ground up, is what is termed 
iu my' x-eports the “ Cyclone Nozzle." Nozzles 
of this sort are very small and simple in con¬ 
struction : but 1 consider them very effective. 
The chief characteristics of their operation 
are, that the liquid is forced at an oblique 
angle into a flattened disk so that it is made to 
rotate at an immense velocity and is forced 
out into a spray, which is easily regulated as 
to amount or fineness, through a central ori¬ 
fice on one side of the disk.” 
As before remarked, the members were 
much interested in this ingenious little nozzle 
which, in itself, waslitUe larger than a lady’s 
thimble; and after seeing its operation, all 
were will.ng to admit its entire efficiency* 
and also that Prof. Riley had most happily 
and appropriately designated it in the use of 
the term “ cyclone.” 
In conclusiou the Professor said: “These 
different devices have been perfected under 
my direction iu the work at the Department 
of Agriculture, chiefly by Dr. W. S. Bairnard, 
one of my assistants, whose time for the past 
three years has beeu entirely given to experi¬ 
ment and research in this direction," 
Prof. Riley was then asked by several mem¬ 
bers where these several appliances could be 
obtained and whether they were in the mar¬ 
ket. He replied: They are Government 
property and for this reason they are not in 
the market. They have beeu invented and 
perfected as part of my work iu ihe Depart, 
ment, and hence every one has a right to make 
them. Full descriptions of them have been, 
or will be, published in the Official Reports. 
I may say that had they been invented by 
private individuals and patented they would 
probably before this have attracted more at¬ 
tention, and beeu placed upon the market by 
private enterprise.” 
In concluding this report, it is proper to say 
that the address of this distinguished ento¬ 
mologist was listened to with profound atten¬ 
tion by the Society, which at once tendered 
him a hearty vote of thanks. It was gener¬ 
ally regretted that the Professor had uot 
written out his address so that it might be pre¬ 
served in the records of the Society, hence the 
publication of a verbatim report of it in the 
Rural will be hailed with pleasure by mem¬ 
bers and fruit growers in general. h. h. 
THE WEST MICHIGAN FAIR. 
(Rural Special Report.) 
The fifth annual fair of the West Michigan 
Agricultural and Industrial Association was 
held at Grand Rapids between September 25th 
and 29th. 
The weather was cool, bracing and delight¬ 
ful, except a little sprinkle on Friday fore¬ 
noon. The attendance was immense, and the 
countenances of the officers plainly showed 
that the fair was a financial success. The 
show of live stock was very large and satisfac¬ 
tory in every department except in the class 
of medium-wooled sheep, and here it was very 
meager indeed, there being only one entry of 
Shropsbires and two of South Downs. The 
Merino display was immense—the specimen 
of greasy, wrinkled and dirty bucks with the 
last fleeces shorn from them, were numerous- 
It was claimed that some of the fleeces 
weighed 20 pounds apiece, and that some 
weighed over 40 pounds; but I examined 
them quite closely, and could not help won¬ 
dering that sensible, shrewd American breed¬ 
ers should so pride themselves on growing a 
fleece weighing 20 pounds, which, if well 
cleaned, would probably yield not over six or 
seven pounds. 
Agricultural machinery was out in im¬ 
mense quantities. T’here was a machine 
for everything—from clearing the land of 
stumps and working up the trees into lum¬ 
ber, to harvesting all kinds of crops, from 
wheat to potatoes, and thrashing and fitting 
crops for market, and for grinding the grains 
to flour and feed. It is really surprising what 
great improvements have been made in agri¬ 
cultural machinery within the last quarter of 
a century. While time and space will not 
permit a description of each, I will simply say 
that uot less than five acres were thickly cov¬ 
ered. The exhibit included everything from 
the old wooden plow of 1783. with its hammer¬ 
ed share and strips of band iron nailed on the 
mold-board, to the modern chilled iron and 
steel plows, whose mold-boards would make 
good substitutes for a looking glass. There 
were walking plows and riding plows, single 
plows and gang plows, plows little and big, 
plain and compound. The man who could 
not find on this ground a plow suited to his 
wants, and one with which he could do good 
work, must simply be no plowman. One plow 
was worthy of special mention from the fact 
that it contained new features. These consisted 
of a skeleton beam made of steel strips so ar¬ 
ranged as to be strong and light and to admit 
of using a large wheel, a foot or more in di¬ 
ameter, attached to a lever convenient to the 
driver, with which, as he passed along, he 
could regulate the depth of furrow without 
stopping the team. He could also throw the 
plow entirely out of the ground at the end of 
the furrows to turn round, or in case the plow- 
jumped out of the furrow', owing to 
making a balk, he could instantly put the 
weight of the plow on the wheels w hile pull¬ 
ing it back. This is a very desirable improve¬ 
ment, as it enables boys and light plowmen to 
easily handle the plow, and it also keeps the 
whifflletrees up off the ground and away from 
the horses' heels while turning corners, and 
moreover, it does away with the necessity of 
throwing the plow over on its side, and thus 
endangering the breaking of the mold-board. 
The show of fruits for this “ off" year was 
extremely good—the best I have met any¬ 
where, and the exhibits were of very good 
quality; but that this is any indication that 
West Michigan has a good fruit crop must not 
be concluded. Mr. Brown, after show ing me 
the exhibit of the Berrien Co. Horticultural 
Society, which wife extremely fine, ou my re¬ 
marking that they must be very fortuuate to 
have such a fruit crop this year, said. “ Not 
so fortunate as you may think: for.these are all 
we have, I must even save these specimens 
and take them back for our own fair next 
w'eek, for we can get no others." Grand 
Traverse region also made a fine showing of 
apples and peaches, their early Crawford is 
are now just iu their prime and are bringing 
fabulous prices for Chicago and other markets. 
In farm produce the exhibit was only fair, 
hardly good enough for so great, rich and 
prosperous a country as Western Michigan. 
The almost entire absence of grapes and the 
green condition of those exhibited showed that 
this is not a grape year for Michigan, and un¬ 
less there is much more warm weather, this 
usually very profitable crop for Michigan 
must be almost a total failure. Among the 
grapes shown, some fine bunches of the 
Niagara, grown at Grand Rapids, by their 
fine size and rich bloom and almost perfectly 
