212 REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY OF THE 
DOES POISON REPEL OR DESTROY THE BEETLES ? 
After the spraying and bagging experiments of 1905 were com- 
pleted, it was evident that enclosing beetles in bags upon trees that 
had been sprayed with poison resulted in the death of the beetles. 
It was now desirable to ascertain whether the beetles died as a 
result of poison or of starvation. To determine this, on August 4th, 
1906, forty-five beetles, divided into lots of fifteen individuals, were 
fed in three glass containers with an abundance of food. The first 
container held only sprayed twigs and branches, the second held 
both sprayed and unsprayed twigs, while the third held only un- 
sprayed twigs. The beetles in container two fed upon both sprayed 
and unsprayed food with apparent relish, showing no discrimina- 
tion between sprayed and unsprayed bark. On August Ii, seven 
days afterward, of the beetles in containers one and two, only one 
beetle in each lot was alive, while in container three, holding only 
unsprayed food, thirteen beetles were alive. 
NURSERY PRACTICES THAT: FAVOR THE) BEETLE; 
In a study of the various methods of growing poplars and wil- 
lows, a practice has now and then been observed that is favorable 
to the multiplication of the poplar beetle. It has been learned that 
in most cases the degree of infestation increases with the age of 
the poplar and willow blocks. Oftentimes a block of one year or 
two year trees that is practically free from infestation one year, 
will in the following season be so badly infested that from twenty- | 
five to fifty per ct. of the trees will be unfit for sale. For this 
reason nurserymen should, as far as is practicable, dispose of the 
stock when it is not more than two or three years of age. When 
a tree becomes so badly injured by the beetles that it is unsalable, 
it should be taken out and burned, as the chances for its recovery 
are small, and such trees serve as breeding places for the beetle. 
The same practice should be pursued with infested native willows 
that are frequently allowed to grow in swampy places or along 
canals or streams adjacent to nurseries. Any brush or injured trees 
taken from the nursery blocks should be burned. On several occa- 
sions brush in nurseries has been found to contain adult beetles 
ready to emerge. A special instance was noted as follows: Several 
one year old trees were found in a nursery brush pile with the 
appearance of having been there a week or more. A number of 
these that had been broken off by the wind as a result of the girdling 
habit of the beetle, were put in a dry place and examined two weeks 
