larvæ, but the unfortunate freeze which occurred on the night of October 11th, made this impossible. The freeze entirely destroyed the chestnut crop in this part of the State and the experiments had to be deferred until another year.

THE FRUIT-TREE BARKBEETLE, Scolytus rugulosus. This small dark brown beetle, is one of our imported insect pests. It injures fruit trees by burrowing about beneath the bark. The females make the brood chambers, in which the eggs are laid, under the bark and in the outer surface of the wood. The grubs hatching from the eggs feed on the inner bark until full-grown when they form small chambers in the sap-wood in which to pupate. Here they transform to adult beetles when they bore directly through the bark to the open air and fly to other trees to continue their work of destruction. Where broods of this insect have emerged the surface of the outer bark is perforated with small, clear-cut holes, and the inner bark is converted into dust by the burrowing of the grubs.

As a rule the beetles will not attack healthy trees but prefer those whose vitality has been weakened by other insects, diseases or neglect. Such weakened trees frequently succumb to the attacks of this pest. When, from some undue cause, the insects become excessively abundant they may attack and destroy healthy trees. Pruning left lying about the or chard afford a congenial breeding place for these insects and if not burned before the late summer may supply myriads of beetles which are liable to injure the whole orchards. On the other hand if the prunings are burned not later than the last of June or first of July the insects will be destroyed that may be in them and the chances from injury to living trees decreased.

Every fruit grower should see to it that all dead trees, prunings, etc., about his orchard are burned. Failure to observe this precaution is resulting in a rapid multiplication of this insect in some localities where large numbers of peach trees have been cut recently on account of being infected with yellows. In Hampshire county we recently saw where about five thousand peach trees had been cut and left lying where they fell for about two years. Millions of these insects had evidently bred in the trees and were extending their depradations to the living orchards in the vicinity.

THE CATALPA SPHINX, Ceratomia catalpae. Observed at Harrisville, Ritchie county, where it had stripped the foliage from several hundred catalpa trees growing in the nursery of R. R. Harris. It was also observed in Mason and Monongalia counties and reported from Greenbrier county. Paris green is the remedy.

THE GRAPE CURCULIO, Craponius inaequalis. Much less destructive this year than last. Grapes that had been punctured by the insects were found in Monongalia, Barbour and Upshur counties, but the damage done was not serious.

THE SCURFY SCALE, Chionaspis furfurus. The scurfy scale is one of our common native scale insects and although it is widely distributed it seldom causes any serious damage. Occasionally, however, a few indi

vidual trees are badly injured, but its ravages can be readily checked by spraying.

An unusually large number of specimens for identification and letters of inquiry concerning this insect have been received by this department during the past season. The cause of the increased desire for information about the scurfy scale is probably due, in many cases, to the fear of the fruit growers that it is the dreaded San Jose scale. This fact indicates that the farmers of the State are becoming more interested than formerly in the condition of their trees, and are making an effort to check the introduction and spread of destructive insect pests.

REPORT OF THE BACTERIOLOGIST.

By John L. Sheldon.

INCREASED FACILITIES FOR DOING WORK.

The general appearance of the bacteriological laboratory and offices has been greatly improved by painting and papering. The cases and furniture have been repaired and varnished, and some additional apparatus purchased.

One of the most useful purchases made during the year is the twentytwo centuries of Fungi Columbiani. This collection contains a considerable number of species of West Virginia fungi, collected in the vicinity of Nuttallburg, by Mr. L. W. Nuttall, the remainder of the collection being from various parts of the United States. The entire collection has been mounted and is now available for reference."

Something like eight hundred specimens of West Virginia plants, mostly fungi, have been collected during the past year. Most of these have been determined, mounted and placed in the pathological herbarium of the Station.

PUBLICATIONS.

Two bulletins have been issued from the bacteriological department during the year. Bulletin 104 is a technical bulletin on "The Ripe Rot or Mummy Disease of Guavas." The fungus which causes this disease is of considerable scientific interest, on account of its taxonomic relationship to other fungi which cause rots of such fruits as apples, grapes, bananas and melons. Bulletin 105, on "Tubercles on Legumes With and Without Cultures," is of a more popular nature. This bulletin gives the results obtained at the Station farm for a period of two years, from inoculating seeds of different legumes with cultures of the nitrifying bacteria; it also shows that most of the West Virginia soils are already richly supplied with the tubercle-forming bacteria of the legumes, so that artificial cultures of these organisms are seldom, if ever, needed for inoculating the seed. The data obtained from growing fourteen species of legumes in the same soil, but without the use of artificial cultures for inoculating the seed, occupies a considerable portion of the bulletin.

At the request of Director Stewart, a short article on "Peach Yellows" was prepared for publication in a number of papers having a circulation in West Virginia.

RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATION.

Several lines of work have been completed and the results published in the form of bulletins or articles in scientific journals, while others have been continued. Among the lines of work that have been continued is a study of the anthracnose of the sweet pea, which was begun by Mr. A. Lee Post, deceased, while connected with this Station, and a caneblight of roses.

Another line of work that has been continued; and one that is of great economic importance, is the cause of the failure to maintain a stand of clover. Several fields were visited at frequent intervals between April and October, to determine, if possible, the cause of the dying out of the clover, should it occur again this year as it had in previous years. In some fields in the Ohio Valley, sown to clover in the spring of 1906, where there was a thick stand and luxuriant growth of clover about the first of August, fully fifty to ninety per cent. of the plants had died before the first of October. This dying out of the clover is not confined to the Ohio Valley exclusively, but also occurs in the Kanawha Valley and in the limestone regions of Monroe and Berkeley counties. In general, the greatest loss was in those fields, or portions of fields, where the clover was the best, that is, was the thickest and made the largest growth. Since the dying out occurs to some extent in the lime-stone regions, it cannot be attributed to an acid soil and a need of applications of lime to reduce the acidity. The real causes have been fungi which killed the plants. The hot, damp weather after harvest was favorable to a rank growth of the clover and at the same time to a rapid multiplication and infection of the fungi.

Mention was made in the last report of the finding of nematode galls or knots on the roots of clover. This disease has been found on the red clover up the Kanawha Valley as far as Buffalo and along the Ohio from Elwell below Point Pleasant to nearly opposite Steubenville, Ohio. It has not been determined yet just how much the growth of the clover is lessened by the worms which produce these knots, but sufficient is known to warrant the continuance of the investigation.

A rather exhaustive study has been made of the life-history of the fungus which causes the leaf tip-disease of dracænas. This fungus, while being destructive to a group of ornamental plants, is of scientific interest on account of its resemblance to several other fungi which cause rots of fruits.

Additional data has been obtained on the distribution and cause of a disease of apple leaves, locally known as "frog-eye."

PLANT DISEASE SURVEY.

The plant disease survey of the State, which was begun in May, 1905, in co-operation with the United States Department of Agriculture, has been continued. Climatic conditions were favorable for the development of fungous disease at the time of ripening of peaches, plums and melons, so that these crops were nearly destroyed in a few localities. Some of the apple orchards were severely injured by, the twig-blight, fully half of the twigs being killed on certain trees. The peach yellows continues to be as

bad as, or probably worse than, formerly, although it can scarcely be much worse in some orchards thai it has been for the past two years, Already it has developed to such an extent as to demand immediate attention. Many thousand peach trees must be destroyed before it will be under control.

The increased planting of large areas to such crops as melons, potatoes, tomatoes, and the different varieties of fruits is favorable for the increased multiplication of the insects and fungi which infest these crops, so that it will become more and more necessary to resort to some means of protection against these pests in order to grow profitable crops. Since certain sections of the State are especially adapted to special crops, if insect or fungus pests become established in these sections, epidemics are most certain to occur sooner or later. Examples of this are to be found in the melon and cantaloupe regions of the Ohio Valley and in the fruit regions of the eastern part of the State, where the crops have been seriously injured for several years.

It has been no uncommon sight during the past three years, to see hundreds of acres of melon and cantaloupe vines with their leaves nearly all dead at a time when they were needed the most to put size and flavor into the fruits. This is considered an advantage by some of the growers who put the immature, watery and insipid melons and cantaloupes on the market at a time when prices are good, and the innocent consumer pays a fancy price for something that he cannot, or ought not, to eat. The apples in some orchards hang like so many red balls on the ends of branches which have been defoliated by what is known as the "frog-eye" disease. Such apples are small and of poor quality; they are occasionally so small and poor in quality that the apple buyers for the commission houses do not want them at any price.

Fortunately, the above and similar conditions do not exist in every field and orchard. Vegetables and fruits of the finest quality were grown in spite of the fact that the season as a whole was favorable for the development of diseases of different kinds. But in most instances, where quality was secured, it was due largely to the preventive measures employed. Probably more persons sprayed the past year, as a means of prevention against insects and fungous diseases, then ever before in the history of the State. A visit to some of the fields and orchards of the pioneers in this work was certainly well worth the effort. The departments of horticulture and entomology carried on some spraying experiments and the results obtained can be found in the reports from these respective departments.

When trees are received from a nursery, they are supposed to be healthy, that is, they are supposed to be free from certain diseases and insects. The laws of this and other states require that all nursery stock shall pass inspection before in can be shipped to purchasers, and all stock that does not pass inspection is either destroyed or disinfected. But while strict measures are taken to protect the purchaser of nursery stock from introducing diseases and insects into his orchard or garden, very little, if any, proteection is given the nurseryman.

During the past year, some of the most destructive diseases of fruit