222 [ASSEMBLY 
ful examination, made September 5th, discovered but two borers in 
eight plants, while other plants in the same row, to which no applica- 
tion had been made, contained from one to three borers each. The 
Paris green and water was applied in this case with a watering pot 
having a fine rose with the apertures facing downwards. The stems 
were wet for a distance of about two feet from the base of the plants. 
We must caution here against using too much Paris green, as in one 
of our experiments the stems shrivelled and died after the application. 
The mixture doubtless acts in this case by’ poisoning the minute 
grub, as it eats its way from the eg’g whence it is hatched to the center 
of the stem. : 
We made another experiment for the squash-vine borer that seems 
to promise valuable results. ‘This was the application of a solution 
of sulphate of iron (copperas) about the roots. We used this solution 
upon five vines about August 22. All of these vines had been infested 
by borers, and at the time the experiment was made, four of them 
were almost destroyed by them. ‘The borers were very carefully re- 
moved by splitting the stem lengthwise to the center and picking out 
the worm with a pair of tweezers. The solution was then poured 
about the base of the plants, sprinkling it upon a circle about four 
feet in diameter, taking care not to allow any to touch the leaves. In 
these vines we found no borers after the application was made. The 
vines soon assumed a deep green color and grew vigorously until de- 
stroyed by frost. ‘Che proportion used was one-fourth of a pound of 
copperas to a gallon of water, and a gallon of the solution was ‘used 
upon each plant. We do not know in what way, if at all, the copperas 
acts in this case to prevent the work of the grub. 
We do not regard these experiments with the squash-vine borer as in 
any sense conclusive. We hope to make very careful verifications of 
them next season. In the meantime we would invite all growers of 
squashes to aid us in practical trials. 
4 
THE Cross-FERTILIZATION OF VARIETIES. 
During the summer and autumn of 1882, we gathered seeds, as far 
as possible, of all the annual vegetables then growing in the Station 
garden. During the past season we have repeatedly noted that the 
plants grown from these seeds show indications that the flowers which 
produced them were cross-fertilized with other varieties. The evi- 
dence of this was perhaps more conspicuous in the pepper than in any 
other vegetable that came under our observation. Last season our 
plants of New Cranberry, Small Red Chili, Oxheart and Cherry Red 
Pepper all produced fruits that were true to the descriptions of these 
varieties. Seeds taken from these fruits, however, produced plants 
that bore but a very small proportion of their fruits true to type. In 
the New Cranberry, for example, the fruits were all at least double, 
and in many cases, many times the size of those of the true variety. 
Fruits of the Oxheart and Red Cherry peppers also were very oblong 
inform. We noticed a difference in the manner of growth of the 
young plants before they had been removed from the hot-bed, and 
transplanted a few of. the more conspicuous variations to rows by- 
themselves. Later in the season the cause of the variation became 
