Mr. Webster stated further that the bud worm, to which Mr. Lintner referred, had been also quite troublesome and abundant in Ohio, and also that Euphoria inda had been a serious pest to the peach crop the present season, eating into the ripening fruit.

Mr. Howard, referring to the oak kermes, stated that it was at one time particularly abundant at Ithaca, N. Y., and its lepidopterous parasite was also equally abundant.

Mr. Kellicott stated that the scale was very common at Columbus, Ohio, but the parasite referred to was not present.

Mr. Kirkland stated that the damage from the army worm in Massachusetts the present year would amount to upward of $250,000, being chiefly to the cranberry crop. In the case of this crop some relief was gained by cutting over the districts, and as the fields dried up the worms abandoned them. He had had an early experience with the army worm, in which he advised rolling over the ground with a heavy roller, a recommendation which frequently appears in early writings upon this insect.

Mr. Howard, referring to the discussion of the army worm, stated that it was obvious that in different localities the present season two or more distinct generations of the worms had formed the injurious armies. He stated that in Virginia he had known the second generation to be an injurious one in one season, and in another season certainly the third and probably the fourth. Apropos to Mr. Kirkland's experience with the use of rollers, he said that his first experience with the army worm occurred in the early summer of 1879 on reclaimed Dismal Swamplands near Portsmouth, Va. He there advised, not from practical experience, but from consulting Harris and Fitch, the use of a roller, and one of the farmers afterwards told him that if there could have been a layer of asphalt pavement between the worms and the roller he firmly believed that the worms would have been crushed! As it was, however, the use of the roller was inefficacious. In this particular case the outbreak was controlled by isolating the infested sections by flooding the draining ditches, the isolated patches being then burned over.

Mr. Smith stated that the army worm had also been present to some extent in New Jersey, but was limited to particular fields, and the total loss from this insect in the State was not large. The damage did not occur at the same time in different parts of the State. In Monmouth County the injury was by the first brood in May. Northward the injury was by the second brood in July. Referring to the common asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi), he said a portion of every brood goes into hibernation. The other asparagus beetle (Crioceris 12-punctata) is spreading over the entire State. Referring to the work of Elaphidion, he stated that they had never been so numerous in New Jersey as the present year, and were especially liable to occur in branches injured by the cicada. The elm pest, Gossyparia ulmi, had been brought to his attention, he stated, for the first time this year, occurring on a tree in a private garden, and had been completely exterminated by the owner.

Mr. Johnson said the early brood of the army worm had been very destructive in Illinois in the vicinity of the experiment station. A very important contagious disease affecting army-worm larvæ had been discovered by a former assistant of Mr. Forbes, Mr. B. M. Duggar, and this disease had been worked up most carefully by Mr. Forbes. The facts regarding it would probably soon be published. He described the appearance of the diseased worms.

Mr. Johnson read the following paper:

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES FROM MARYLAND.

By W. G. JOHNSON, College Station, Md.

The Maryland Agricultural College has this season established a department of entomology and will offer regular courses of instruction, beginning with the coming scholastic year. The new department is united under one management with the State agricultural experiment station.

Another step of considerable importance was the passage of an act by the last general assembly of Maryland known as the "trees and nursery stock" law. It provides for the appointment of a State entomologist, whose duty it shall be to inspect all nurseries in the State each year with a view of detecting the presence of the San Jose scale, yellows, rosette, or any other injurious insect or plant disease. The owner is notified of the presence of any insect pest or disease that may be found on his place, and the proper remedies for its destruction are suggested. If he does not take such steps in the time specified for the suppression of the pest, he lays himself liable to a fine of $1 for every tree, plant, or vine so affected when shipped from his nursery. In such a case the entomologist can enter the nursery, employ such assistance as he needs, and apply the proper remedies for the destruction of the pest at the expense of the owner.

Every nurseryman or seller of trees within the State is required to send on every package so shipped or delivered, as well as to transmit to the purchaser by mail, a written or printed certificate signed by him that the stock has been examined by the State or Government entomologist and that it is free from insect pests and plant diseases. Failure to furnish such certificate renders him liable to a fine of $100 for every such shipment or delivery without such certificate.

If the stock is found free from insect pests and plant diseases, the entomologist furnishes the owner with a certificate to that effect and files a similar certificate with the governor of the State and with the president of the Maryland Agricultural College, which certificate must at all times be subject to public inspection.

The section of this law that provides for a certificate which is to be affixed on each package of trees, plants, vines, or nursery stock shipped

into the State of Maryland from any other State, showing that the contents have been inspected by a State or Government officer and are free from insect pests and plant diseases, is perhaps of greater interest to entomologists and nurserymen outside the State of Maryland than any other section. Upon satisfactory proof that the provisions of this act have been violated the packages must be returned to the shipper or consignor, unless the agent or consignee shall have the stock examined by the Maryland State official, who will furnish the necessary certificate in case no injurious insect or plant disease are found. In consequence of a failure to return the stock to the shipper or to have it examined by the State entomologist it must be burned and destroyed.

From the fact that the San Jose scale has been found in several nurseries in Maryland, I realize that it is practically impossible for even an expert entomologist to be certain that the pest has been entirely exterminated from such nurseries and furnish the owners an absolute guaranty of freedom from scale. As pointed out by Dr. Howard and Mr. Marlatt in their excellent bulletin on the San Jose scale (Bulletin No. 3, New Series, p. 71), "no examination can be so thorough as to make it impossible that not an individual scale has been overlooked, and the wide range of food plants makes it always possible for the scale to be reintroduced from near-by sources." I believe, with the authors of this bulletin, that the only safe course is to demand from the nurseryman, secured by State legislation if necessary, a written certificate that the stock has never been infested or subject to infestation, that it has been examined by the State or Government entomologist, and, further, that he will assume the responsibility for the subsequent damage should his belief in the cleanliness of the stock prove ill founded. With such legislation, strict quarantine laws rigidly enforced, and the destruction of local sources of infestation, I believe the San Jose scale can be kept in check in any locality. Extermination is another thing. When the attack is confined to comparatively small trees and over a limited area, I believe the pest can be completely destroyed, but when established in large fruiting orchards its complete destruction means an expense in apparatus, material, and labor far beyond the means of the average horticulturist. In conversation with one of the largest and most successful fruit growers in Maryland recently he told me he would give $1,500 cash if his orchards were free from the San Jose scale. He is a man of exceptional ability and push and proposes to leave nothing undone to suppress the scale. Last year he spent nearly $400 fighting it, using over 400 gallons of whale oil soap, applying it at the rate of 2 pounds to a gallon of water; but the pest is still present on his trees and openly challenges the intelligence and enterprise of this thoroughgoing horticulturist for its suppression. Although discour aged, he still has hope, and will repeat the same heroic treatment with soap this fall and winter.

The most alarming part of the situation in Maryland is the fact that

there are several large orchards in certain localities where the scale has a firm foothold, and the owners are doing nothing to destroy it. It is consequently spreading to other orchards in the vicinity, and one becomes a source of infestation for another. Steps are now being taken to destroy, if possible, these local centers where the pest exists.

Next to the San Jose scale the melon plant louse (Aphis gossypii Glover) has caused more damage in our State than any other insect this season. Hundreds of acres of canteloupes were destroyed by it in Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Prince George, Charles, Calvert, St. Marys, Wicomico, and Dorchester counties the latter part of June and early in July. Many winged individuals were abundant July 20, and in many instances the lice thickly covered both sides of the leaves. Underspraying with kerosene emulsion diluted with twenty parts of water was the most convenient method of treatment where a large number of vines were infested.

The asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi) has been exceedingly abundant and destructive over a large part of the State this season. I saw large numbers of larvæ on asparagus near Chestertown, in Kent County, August 11. The 12-spotted species (C. 12-punctata) is also becoming quite common. I have collected it in Prince George, St. Marys, and Kent counties this month.

The potato-stalk weevil (Trichobaris trinotata) has done considerable mischief to potatoes in Baltimore and Harford counties. August 10 I visited a 6-acre potato field in the vicinity of Greenwood, in Baltimore County, and found nine-tenths of the vines had been killed by this insect. Nearly every stem contained one or more larvæ or pupæ. Potatoes all over the State have also suffered great damage from the attacks of the Colorado potato beetle (Doryphora 10-lineata) and the blister beetle, Epicauta cinerea.

To cabbage, the cabbage worm (Pieris rapa) and the harlequin cabbage bug (Murgantia histrionica) have been particularly destructive over the entire State. The latter, however, has been by far the greater pest.

The strawberry weevil (Anthonomus signatus) appeared in great abundance early this season and was very injurious to certain varieties. Mr. R. A. Miller, director of the experiment station, tells me that on the station grounds and in Montgomery County the "Sharpless" and other staminates were more severely injured than the pistillates, especially the "Crescents."

The peach has suffered greatly from the attacks of the plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar). Much of the fruit has ripened prematurely and fallen from the trees. The codling moth (Carpocopsa pomonella), aside from doing much damage to apples, has this season been very common in pears.

August 17 I found the fruit bark beetle (Scolytus rugulosus) at work on plum trees in an orchard in Prince George County. The adults were busily at work perforating the trees.

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The imported elm leaf beetle (Galerucella luteola) has been very abundant on the English elm this season. Four large trees on the experiment station grounds were almost completely defoliated. The larvæ came down the trunk in great numbers, but many climbed the trees again. This upward movement was checked by bands of dendrolene painted around the trees about 3 feet from the ground. The substance did not seem to interfere with those that were coming down, as they usually tumbled over it and buried themselves in the kainit which had been scattered, at Prof. H. J. Patterson's suggestion, around the base of the trees, where they died by the myriads.

The locust leaf-beetle (Odontota dorsalis) has this season almost completely defoliated the locusts of southern Maryland. The attack has been very general along the Potomac River as far north as lower Prince George County. It has been found much farther north, but not in such great numbers.

The paper was briefly discussed by two or three members.

Mr. Smith stated that the potato stalk-borer, which was so very threatening in New Jersey two years ago, had caused no damage since. Mr. Webster presented the following paper:

INSECTS OF THE YEAR IN OHIO.

By F. M. WEBSTER, Wooster, Ohio.

The outbreak of the year in this State was that of the chinch bug, discussed in a separate paper, and perhaps the next in importance was that of the army worm (Leucania unipuncta Haw.). Though widespread, the occurrence of this pest could hardly have been termed general, and the injury caused was largely local. It is not often that both this species and Blissus leucopterus occur together, but this season has seen both destructively abundant over the same area and at about the same time. To the peculiar meteorological conditions explained in my paper on the last-named species may, I think, be attributed the causes for this unusual phenomenon. Many of the worms received were parasitized, and a bacterial disease also prevailed.

The cankerworm, Anisopteryx vernata Peck, occurred locally about as the preceding species, and in some cases worked considerable injury. I am at a loss to account for the contrary reports that have come to me in regard to the inefficiency of spraying with Paris green in destroying this pest. It must be that as the worms get older they are less susceptible to the effects of this poison, as reports of failures come too often and from those who are too careful and reliable to admit of such experiences being ignored.

Considerable injury was done to grain and meadows in May and June throughout some portions of the State by a grasshopper, Melanoplus bivittatus. In Wyandot County especially, the timothy and clover