218 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



ten trees in July the trunks of which were covered with scale. There are 40 or 50 of 

 these Abundance trees together, and next to them on one side is a row of young Beurr^ 

 D'Anjou pears, and on the other Lombard plums. I have pretty carefully examined 

 the rows of Abundance and these two adjacent rows, and this is what I find at this date, 

 November 19 : 



60 infested trees (out of a total of 78 in the block) composed as follows : — 



10 infested in 1895, now covered and very sickly ; 



4 less severely, probably attacked last summer or early this spring ; 



46 slightly, varying from a slight scattering over of the tree to a few scales on a 

 single limb. Every one of the young pear trees is infested slightly, and nine out of the 

 13 trees in the row the other side of the Abundance block. I have not had time to 

 examine all the trees in the orchard (some 300 or so), but a walk through and a hasty 

 look round revealed one or two trees slightly infested, and I have no doubt a thorough 

 examination would bring to light a good many more cases. The spread, therefore, has 

 been very extensive this year." — [Martin Burrell.] 



The Kings ville occurrence of the San Jose Scale was first reported to me by Mr. 

 Milton G. Bruner, who also kindly showed me, in company with the owner, M. John 

 D. Wigle, the infested spots in the orchards. Mr. Wigle has probably 6,000 trees and 

 there are three centres of infestation, the scale occurring in different orchards, but all 

 comparatively close together. As far as I could judge from a two hours' examination 

 upon an extremely cold day, I should say that there were altogether about 300 trees 

 infested more or less, most of them plum trees, the remainder being dwarf pears. Mr. 

 Wigle is much exercised in this matter and has expressed himself as willing to do 

 anything in his power to prevent the insect from spreading. My thanks are due to 

 him and to Mr. Bruner for assistance in examining his orchards and also for facilities 

 afforded for meeting the fruit growers of Essex County. While with these gentlemen, I 

 had an opportunity of holding two meetings at Olinda and one at Kingsville. These 

 meetings were well attended by leading fruit growers, and the matter of the San Jos^ 

 Scale was thoroughly discussed. Mr. Bruner I found had made himself well acquainted 

 with the subject and was able to recognize the species as well as was po sible from a 

 superficial examination. He had given much valuable information to those with whom 

 he had been brought in contract in his ofl3.cial capacity as Township Inspector of Black 

 Knot and otljer orchard pests. 



Remedies. — The remedies other than total destruction of the trees which have been 

 most successfully used towards checking injury by the San Josd Scale are : (1) Spraying 

 with kerosene emulsion or pure coal oil ; (2) washing with whale-oil soap ; (3) fumiga- 

 ting with hydrocyanic acid gas ; and (4) spraying with the linje-sulphur-and-salt mixture. 



When a tree is found to be badly infested, save under very exceptional circum- 

 stances, the cheapest plan will be to cut it down at once and burn it. If, however, a 

 tree is only slightly infested or there are special reasons for trying to save it, the tree 

 should be pruned back as closely as it will stand and then washed thoroughly two or 

 three times with whale-oil soap — two pounds of soap in one gallon of water. This is an 

 expensive treatment, but on the whole is the most effective yet discovered. 



1. Kerosene. — Prof. John B. Smith, of New Brunswick, N. J., Mr. C. L. Marlatt of 

 Washington, D.C., and some other experimenters, have found that a light spraying 

 of pure kerosene oil may be applied to trees without injury, if it be done sparingly, so 

 as only just to cover the bark, and upon a bright day, when the oil will evaporate 

 quickly. I must acknowledge that some limited experiments of my own have not been 

 quite satisfactory. Professor Smith's experiments, however, have been very satis- 

 factory to him, and on 1st of September last, he publicly recommended fruit growers 

 to "spray thoroughly in September all infested bearing apple, pear, plum and 

 peach trees with undiluted kerosene during the middle of a clear sunshiny day. By 

 undiluted kerosene is meant the ordinary burning fluid used in lamps, in exactly the 

 condition in which it is purchased. It should be applied in the finest possible spray, 

 and every part of the plant should be thoroughly wet, but no more." 



At the last meeting of the Association of Economic Entomologists held at Detroit, 

 August 12-15, 1897, Mr. Marlatt read some " Notes on Insecticides," in which he speaks 



