New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-06
RETTETTN No


The Tribune has received Bulletin No. ~ OF
,hc Ncw-.Jcrscy Agricultural College Experiment
station. kindly sent by Professor John L. Smlth'
S,ot. Entomologst. The season of especial ACTIVITY
Cor outdoor insects has closed and Professor Snl'h
ro,ievs the situation lie finds on the whole thao
,hiucs are in good shape, Notwithstanding the uh-
euaI activity of plant insects during the pdSu
s,rmcr lie rapidly sketches the history ana
Lbits Of and the seasons campaign against, ihe
five most notorious enemies Of vegetation, namelH
,bo wheat louise, the cherry louse the p"o"
,ousc the cabbage louise and the melon louise
The Professor prcfaces his bulletin with some
remarks on plant lice in general. Plant lice belong
,o the order Hemiptrra, or true bugs, ana 10 the
,I,,,ontcra section of the order. They do not eat
,ho nlant leaf, but insert their beoks and suck
nm the SAP in quite the same manner III which
,L MOSQUITOES of the same state treat the SUM
,or hoar,lcr Naturally this wcakens the plant III
,h. same way the other does the boardcr, hut tho
rI,nt cannot escape. AS regards the life history
of plant lice much less seems to be known thah Oh
that of the average insect. They are shy IN thcr
habits and avoid people as much as possible
o. x>cially cntoinologsts and other scientists Many
,,,,. do not spend their entire life on plant,
hut wander about with the evident intention Oh
,,,ling the Woodworking cntomologist. Take,
4.
nc hop-vincs are well started the louise comes.
mutiplies very rapidly and frequently destroys
,Lc crop When the hops become ripe the louise
disappears. and for many years nobody knew
where he went to. European cntomoloeists worked
an the problem for years and were at last forced to
Two il Nd But DR. Riley, the United States
covernmcnt Entornologist, managed to trace him.
Tho reader could never guess where TINS insect goes
crom tire hop He goes 20 the plum-trec, OF all
nl,ccs in the world Here he multiplies some
mare here the eggs are laid which survive
tho winter. and here he lives few generations
!, the spring ill the hopviuc gets big enough 10
On, when he GOES back 10 that Thus as PROBES
,r smith iniimaics. If the hOp-grOwcr white N"
i. planting his hops. Will have the hired man
.,r,vin, the plum trees ne will get a better mop
Gran But the wheat louSc still remains unraccd'
and no man knowcth where he passes the time
between harvest and tho appearance OF winter
| wheat He has been searched for on apple, pear
and other fruit trees, on oak, elm ana all KINDS
Of forest trees other grain. on plants ana NcSe-
tables but without success. Sun he must NC
.or,c,vbcrc We do not know If it would bc
worth while but IT seems ia MS that the telegraph
mole should be examined. if II has not been looked
after already There might nothing come OF this
| ~ course; we simply throw out the sugge'tlon'
,,bich is perhaps. the best thing we could do wifh
il.
or ,bc various plant lice which troubled Jersey
| during the summer. perhaps the most destructive
vas the wheat aphiS which prcyed IN wheat ana
rye II will hc remembered that this insect was
troublesome IN this State as well, though Dr
| ri,tncr's parnsi,c did much 10 keep II down. II
| dr,t made It's appearance IN Jersey late IN AprH
| in Nr GARDENERS fields ~ Wcstvilc professor
Smith sent Mr Gardiner some hsh-oil soap WIN
| which lie carefully washed his wheat stems an"
| killed the last aphis But the work made VII. "r'
| diners back ache Mr.. 'uln. Of lIaineSpor'' h'd
| Grd of r.c 80 inquired that be- turned III te HoSH
| These intelligent beasts remarked IN Their poor
| dumb way that they could stand 1t II MI '"Hl
could Natures forces rallied. however. and did
much ~ check the aphs later IN the season
Thee forces included several varieties of parasites
! ord flies and tho common lady-bug Numerous
snr,ys. consisting OF MIXTURES Of kerosene. s'ap,
! a. v ,rA so forth were also tried with good
| .,,l, Il would seem at first sight tha' II
would Soc difficult 10 spray large field Of grain
bpt +, s unite readily accomplished. after al WIN
Certain, tank machines attached To a wagon. whlrh
! &c dr.vcn through tic field II viii he rem'ul
| h.,,.J tb1, tho nDhis carries no umbrella. lac
| c,bh,re apb., also did much harm. This. 100, was
! r,,,cd with excellent results. while TOBACCO
! also seemed. in THIS case, aS IN that Of man. u
! shorten life The peach aphS and cherry 'ph''
! ,,y, varieties which differ but slightly. were arse
numerous and did som" damage. lh" same may
no ,liI of tho melon aphls which feeds on melon
and cucumber vines Much OF the loss IN 'hr
melon crop was. however, traced To the 'w''
Loy rather than 10 the aphS. For inns enemy
Professor Smith suggests no remedy Whatever
science has IT'S wcll-Ionncd limitations.
I'm closing, the Professor says ti'' experiment
,,iu he carried on all winter. and IA" expects u
90 into next seasons campaign better IMAM '''|
nrcnorcd 10 battle with bugs IN whatsoever loIm
they may come