Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1898 [PAGE 340]

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340

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

[Oct. 31„

BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE ILLINOIS STATE LABORATORY OF NATURAL HISTORY.

1 o the Trustees of the University of Illinois. GENTLEMEN: In pursuance to your general instructions as contained in your proceeding's for 1892 (June meeting*), I submit the following* report of" operattons of the State Laboratory of Natural History for the past two years. These operations have been connected almost wholly with the work of the State Entomologist or with that of the Biological Station. As the State Entomologist's operations will be reported, under the law, to the Governor previous to the next session of the Legislature, I will only say with regard to them here that they have been directed mainly to,the study of the life histories of some of the insects injurious to corn, to an examination of the shade trees and other ornamental vegetation of several of the larger towns of" central Illinois, and to work on the San Jose scale, distributed throughout the State. Further investigation of the corn insects was undertaken with a view topreparing for my next biennal report a second installment of a monograph upon that subject. The study of the insects injurious to shade trees is the beginning* of what I intend to make an exhaustive survey of that topic in thisState; and the work on the San Jose scale has taken the form of a further examination of suspected premises with a view to the possible occurrence of hitherto undetected colonies of that insect in the State, a very thorough and careful spraying with insecticide solution of premises known to harbor the scale, the introduction of two fungus parasites of the scale obtained by me on a personal visit to Florida last spring, and several lines of experimental work undertaken in the hope of finding some cheaper and more effective insecticidethan the one now generally in use. In this same connection I have provided for a general inspection of nurseries throughout the State, made at the expense of the nurserymen. Upon receipt of the report of the condition of these nurseries from my inspectors, I have given to nurserymen official certificates setting forth the facts as to the existence on their premises of insects* likely to be conveyed in trade to the injury of their customers. The operations of the Biological Station have been carried on during thepast two years along lines practically the same as those previously reported upon, except that we have done much more during the last two years with fishes than previously, with the expectation of completing a formal report upon the fishes of Illinois on which considerable progress had been made by me long before the opening of the Station. This study of the fishes of the Station field was taken up systematically inJuly, 1897, by Prof. Frank Smith, and continued by him without interruption until September 1 of that year. In the summer of 1898 this was passsed over to Mr. Wallace Craig, assigned to the Biological Station as its resident naturalist, and he will make this his principal occupation during this entire year. He has been handsomely provided with various kinds of apparatus for the collection of fishes in all the Station situations, including seines of all sorts, fish traps of various size and construction, set nets, and trammel nets. This work is being so conducted as to give us correct indeas not only of the-