tance three such stalks ‘were observed 
wbout 10 millimetre* high, and ending in a 
“lub with a white mealy covering. On 
‘*xamining this white material under the 
gnicroscope, it was found to be a mass of 
fungus filaments, with numerous projecting 
Penicillium-like bodies, bearing innumer- 
‘wble spores or conidia, as they are techni- 
wally ‘called, which was the cause of the 
“‘mealy appearance. The dense, white mould 
‘lirectly covering the grub did not show at 
this stage any of the reproductive bodies. 
Several of the giubs were placed in damp 
‘chambers, not, however, so moist as to en- 
“*eourage the growth of other fungi, and in 
sabout five days there was a profuse develop- 
went of conidia. The fungus might either 
‘be chalky-white or ochraceous, or a mixture 
“of both, but the conidia produced in each 
‘ase were the same, showing that the 
fungus varied in its color. At various 
points, short, thread-like stalks were pro- 
aluced, and it was soon decided that the 
«conidia might either be produced at the 
tips of these stalks, or directly from the 
4ungus filaments enveloping the body. 
Here, then, was an undoubted fungus 
ajtacking the codlin moth grubs and 
destroying them at the stage when they 
were about to pass into the chrysalis form. 
At was also found to be capable of repro- 
@lucing itself freely, and thus a means of 
spreading the fungus was easily obtainable 
# it should be found practicable to destroy 
the codlin moth in the grub stage by this 
means, 
PRUVIOUS RECORDS OF PARASITIC FUNGI ON 
THE CODLIN MOTH, 
‘The codlin moth, like others of its class, 
‘has many natural enemies, and these have 
all received more or less attention at the 
‘hands of investigators. T. D. A, Cockerell} 
an ‘Preliminary Notes on the Codlin 
Moth,” has pointed out its natural enemies 
occurring in New Mexico, and these in- 
elude :—1, birds; 2, bats and other yerte- 
brate animals; 3, hymenopterous parasites ; 
3, a beetle larva; and 5, a parasitic fungus. 
Et is with the latter that we are more 
directly co.ce:ned, and covsidering the im- ~ 
portance of the subject, his remarks are 
quoted in full. 
“On November 4th, 1896,- two dead 
codlin moth pupae were found on a tree, 
both attacked by-a fungus. Later on, a 
worm was fuund in a mummified condition, 
its death aj parently the result of a fungus 
growth. Snll further search showed that a 
small percentage of the mature worms, and 
also of the pupae, perished in this way, but 
the disease was not prevalent enough to be 
of much importance. — 
“Tn April, 1897, in Mesilla, many worms 
which were kept in a bottle died from the 
attack of the same fungus, which had all 
the appearance of the celebrated chinch- bug 
fungus, Sporotrichum globuliferum. Speci- 
mens were sent to Dr. R. Thaxter for a 
critical opision, and he replied that the 
fungus seemed to him to be Sporotrichum 
glebuliferum.” 
* A millimetre is about 1-25 inch, 
* Bulletin 25, New Mexico, Agricultural Ex- 
@eriment Station, February, 1898. : 
Mee eee og 
pu PAE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
- “This is the first and only definite record 
that Iam aware of a: to the occurrence of 
@ parasitic fungus on the-codlin moth. 
~ In September, 1899, -Mr. Cock, orchard 
inspector, sent me dead grubs from the 
Castlemaine district, enveloped in fungus 
filaments, but since there was no fructifica- 
tion present, the fungus could not be deter- 
mined. ee 
NATURE CF THE FUN GUS FOUND IN VIOTORIA, 
The general characters of ‘the fungus 
have already been given, but a more 
detailed account will be necessary to settle 
its systematic position The fungus fila- 
ments, which are about 3 microns* broad, 
either directly envelop the body or grow out 
into compact, interwoven threads, forming 
a slender stalk often expanded at the free 
enc, and the upper two-thirds has a white, 
mealy covering composed of innumerable 
colorless conidia. Directly from the fila- 
ments, covering the body, or from the 
threads composing the stalk, there arise the 
conidia-bearers, which resemble those pre- 
sent in the common blue mould on rotting 
fruit, &c.—a Penicillium; that is to say, 
there is a long, slender filament, variously 
branched, often in whorls, and at the end 
of each there are flask-shaped basal cells or 
sterigmata, which bear the conidia in long 
chains. The conidia are colorless, sub- 
glucose, or, shortly oval, very minute— 
24x 14 microns. The characters are those 
of the mould known as Isaria, and the 
form agrees very closely with Isaria farinosa 
(Dicks.) Fe., or Mealy Isaria. 
USE OF 1HE FUNGUS AS AN INSECTICIDE. 
The question is often asked by growers 
and others, can natural enemies be used to 
keep down insect pests? Experiments have 
been carried cut to supply an answer to the 
question. The results of these experiments 
generally have been to show that only a 
limited amount: of relief can be expected 
from this source. There is no doubt that 
the method of pitting nature against itself 
is a most economical one, and that most 
satisfactory results might be expected from 
it, but it would appear that we have not 
yet learned how to apply these natual reme- 
dies tothe best advantage. For example, 
Cockerell found that the Mexican fungus 
worked great destruction among the grubs 
in the damp atmosphere of a bottle, which 
contained some wormy apples; but out in 
the orchard its effects were inconsiderable, 
and he adds the remark—‘ There is no 
hope that it will ever prove efficacious in 
our dry climate. Although the fungus 
dealt with was supposed to be Sporotrichum 
globuliferum, yet it is sufficiently allied to 
ours to render the results generally appli- 
cable. However, there are also experiments 
to fall back upon, in which this identical 
fungus was used, though on other insects. 
R. H. Pettit} connected with the Cornell 
University Agricultural Station, experi- 
mented with the Mealy Isaria on a number 
of different grubs, and the results were very 
unsatisfactory. 
* A micron is approximately 1-250000 of an inch. 
7 Studies in Artificial Cultures of Entomo- 
genous Fungi. Bulletin 97, Cornell University 
Agricultural Experimental Station, J uly, 1895, 
February. 1, 1905 - 
White grubs, the larvae of Lachnosterna, 
“were dusted with conidia, and after four 
months no trace of the fungus was visible. 
Although most of the specimens died, they 
showed no trace of the fungus. Again, 15 
specimens of the larvae of Pieris rapae 
were dusted with conidia, andin about 20 
days the adult insects emerged. However, 
a certain measure of success attended a. 
third experiment. Seven specimens of tho- 
common brown and black caterpillar Pyrr- 
harctia isabella were infected by fastening 
the conidia with white of egg, by means of 
a brush. After 20 days, all but two were 
attacked by the fungus, and ‘of the five 
attacked, four were dead, curled up and 
covered moré or less densely with a. thick 
cottony mass of mycelium, most prominent 
on the ventral side.” 
The. chinch-bug fungus and the locust 
fungus are now both pretty well known, 
and the success of their application seems. 
to be so dependent on the weather condi- 
tiows that the results naturally vary. In the 
Year Book of the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture for 1401, Dr. Howard, 
Government Untomologist, has an article 
on ‘‘ Experimental work with Fungus Dis- 
eases of Grasshoppers,” and he comes to 
the conclusion that ‘‘ the results are definite 
enough to induce still further investigation, 
which will be carried on during the summer 
of 1902, but the results obtained so far do 
not justify very sanguine hopes.” He 
notices that the work done in Victoria by 
Mr. French, the Government Entomologist, 
seems to haye been very successful with the 
Mucor locust fungus. In the Year Book for 
1902, just come to hand, experiments on an 
extensive scale to give the South African 
grasshopper fungus a thorough and prac- 
tical test’ are recorded. There have been 
some successes, but the general summing 
up is not favorable. ‘It now seems pro- 
bable that very great reliance cannot be 
placed on this fungus disease. Lither it 
does not work with our grasshoppers as 
readily as it does with the South African 
locust, or our climate makes our species of 
grasshopper more resistant or the fungus 
less operative.” 
CONCLUSION. 
The parasitic fungus on the codlin moth 
larva is easily propagated, and the spores 
are readily produced. The spores may be 
sprayed in water, at the same time as other 
spraying mixtures are applied alongside, — 
and the results of both noted and com- 
pared. If by this means an epidemic could 
be spread among the grubs, so as to effec- 
tually reduce their numbers, it would be @ 
simple way of dealing with the pest. It 
would seem, however, that it is only in cer- 
tain seasons and in certain localities that 
the fungus is produced in sufficient abun- 
kance to produce noteworthy results, and it 
could only be used at present as an addition 
to, and not a substitute for, other means 
which have proved themselves to be more 
or less effectual —“ Journal of Agriculture 
of Victoria.” 
Green fly frequently makes its appear- 
ance on young rose shoots. Spray with 
kerosene emulsion. For mildew, dust the 
foliage with sulphur in the mornings while 
the dew is on the plants. 
