A Plum Scale. 687 



pores, and gave to the fruit a smutty or " mussy " appearance. 

 The loss of so much sap also dwarfed much of the fruit. Thus a 

 badly infested orchard presents a sorry sight in August, with its 

 stunted growth, curled leaves, and dwarfed fruit, while the whole 

 tree has a disgusting smutty appearance. During the winter these 

 conspicuous blackened trees are unwelcome monuments of the 

 work of the pest during the summer. 



Those who have seen the effects of the Pear Psylla on pear trees 

 will at once recognize a plum tree which has suffered from this 

 Plum Scale. Trees attacked by either insect present the same 

 black unhealthy appearance, but the Pear Psylla does not attack 

 the plum, nor does this Plum Scale seem to have yet appeared in 

 destructive numbers on the pear. 



« 



ITS FOOD-PLANTS. 



This scale is as yet par excellence a plum pest ; and we have not 

 seen it on plum trees less than five years old. However, many 

 quince trees near infested plum orchards suffered severely last 

 summer from what appears to be the same insect ; and we have 

 just received an apple branch from L,ewiston, N. Y., which bears 

 several similar scales with other indications that the tree has suf- 

 fered considerably from the insect. It was doubtless the same 

 insect which we saw on a pear branch that projected into an in- 

 fested plum tree. An elm branch on which were seen many 

 scales doubtless became infested from a plum tree near by. Mr. 

 Hooker reports a similar scale on his honey locust hedge. And 

 Mr. Beach says (" Garden and Forest," July 18, 1894, p. 284) the 

 insect has been found on apple, pear, maple, and Cissjis. In one 

 orchard, apple and cherry trees in rows alongside infested plum 

 trees have but very few of the scales, while quinces near by are 

 freely attacked. Thus the pest apparently thrives on quince, and 

 may attack apple, pear, cherry, elm, maple, honey locust, and 

 Cissus- 



We doubt if the pest has any preferences among the cultivated 

 varieties of plums. In one orchard. Smith's Orleans suffered the 

 most, while in another Copper, Bradshaw, and Lombard were the 

 worst infested. The scales are also now present in one orchard 



