DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 81 



possible to use very strong mixtures but the fact that there are no 

 leaves on the trees enables one to do more thorough work than after 

 the growth has started. An excellent time for spraying is as soon as 

 the leaves have dropped in the fall, but fully as good results can be 

 secured just before the buds start in the spring. Although the spray- 

 ing can be done during warm days in the winter, it will be even better 

 to wait until the first half of April. It sometimes happens that the 

 presence of the scale is not detected until after the growth has started. 

 Especially if upon young trees they might become so numerous during 

 the summer as to seriously injure and perhaps kill the trees. For this 

 reason, something in the way of a summer application is desirable. 

 Although it will be likely to burn the leaves slightly, in cases where the 

 scale are very numerous upon a tree it will often be well to apply 

 sulphur and lime at about two-thirds the usual strength. If care is 

 taken to cover the trunk and larger branches without getting more 

 than is necessary upon the leaves, the benefits will greatly exceed the 

 injury that will be done to the foliage. However, there will be a large 

 number of scale near the ends of the branches that will not be de- 

 stroyed. When the broods appear, which will be at about the middle 

 of the months of June, August and October, the young scales and the 

 sets that they form can be killed by applications of kerosene emulsion 

 or similar remedies without injuring the trees. For use upon apple 

 trees this can be made as strong as ten per cent, using one gallon of 

 kerosene, one pound of soap and nine gallons of water, but for other 

 fruit trees the amount of water should be increased to eleven or twelve 

 gallons. If care is taken to make the application when large numbers 

 of the minute, yellow lice are crawling upon the branches, excellent 

 results will be secured. This treatment, however, will not be sufficient 

 to kill the old scales although an emulsion containing twenty-five per 

 cent of kerosene, which can be used with safety during the winter, 

 could be used with good results. 



During the past year numerous complaints have been investigated 

 where the injury was caused by scurfy scale, oyster shell scale and 

 the European fruit scale, but in only a few cases was serious harm 

 being done. The same treatment was recommended as for the 8an 

 Jose scale but if only a few insects were upon the trees an applica- 

 tion of kerosene emulsion when the young appear in June will be found 

 eft'ectual. 



Owing largely to the vigilance of the township inspectors in the 

 counties where the disease has been most troublesome comparatively 

 few cases of peach yellows were reported in 1905, although the num- 

 ber in 1904 was unusually large. For the most part the only places 

 where the disease was very troublesome last year was in orchards that 

 had been neglected or practically abandoned and in sections of the 

 state where the peach growing industry is of little importance and 

 where there are no township inspectors. Under these conditions it 

 often happens that the owners of infected orchards not being familiar 

 with the characteristic appearance of the disease as it manifests itself 

 in the fruit, branches and foliage, entire orchards are sometimes de- 

 stroyed before the cause of the trouble is known, being attributed to 

 the winter or other natural causes. 

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