38 THE LILAC-BORER. 
sucking insects of this kind wilted and died; it seemed as ifa 
poison was injected by the insect while imbibing the fluid food. 
THE LILAC-BORER. 
(Sesia syringe Harr.). 
In last year’s report were described a number of our most 
common and destructive lepidopterous borers. Since that 
time another species has become very prominent; it is a 
rather beautiful moth resembling very closely a common pa- 
per-nest hornet. It greatly resembles the borer so very 
destructive to our ash-trees, but confines its operations 
to that beautiful, ornamental ‘and hardy shrub, the lilac, 
in the older trunks of which it occurs in large numbers and 
which it soon kills. An illustration of the living insect is 
given in fig. 21, plate II. 
As far as remedies are concerned but very little can be 
accomplished beyond a removal of the old wood. The pres- 
ence of such borers is indicated by numerous holes and by 
the frass or saw-dust accumulating beneath. By coating 
the old wood very early in June with a mixture of soft-soap 
and Paris green we can repel the female and thus prevent her 
from laying eggs upon such plants. The soap will soon 
wash away but the poison is left in the cracks of the bark and 
all insects boring though it must necessarily come in contact 
with the Paris green and die in consequence. 
THE PLUM-GOUGER. 
( Coccotorus prunicida Walsh). 
There is no kind of fruit that promises so well in Minne- 
sota as the plum and wonderful progress has already been 
made in the past to improve our wild species, and to create, 
by selection, crosses, or other means, new and better varie- 
ties, and it seems, when we look at the samples of plums 
shown last year at the different fairs that before very long 
fruit far superior to all others grown now will be the re- 
sult of such painstaking work. It seems to the writer that 
the only true road to success has been chosen, viz: to im- 
prove the native kinds, which are known to be hardy, and 
not to attempt to bring to our state others found in coun- 
