No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 657 



child with its nli)habet. Tlien and not until IIkmi can we hope to 

 withstand successfully this terrible enemy. Our safety lies not so 

 much in fightinj^- the foe after it has full and conij)lete possession, 

 as it does in acting on the defensive and not letting;- it jj;et a foothold. 



HOW SHALL WE DO THIS? 



First, expose the enemy by giving such a plain description of it 

 that he who runs may read. No description equals an object les- 

 son. You can only become familiar with an object by seeing and 

 handling it. Go where it has become thoroughly acquainted. The 

 general appearance of a badly infested limb can be compared to one 

 sprinkled with ashes mixed with fine particles of sulphur and soot. 

 Such is the appearance found during winter. The scale is circular, 

 1-32 to 1-16 of an inch in diameter. The body is dark gray convex 

 rising in the form of a nipple with a slight indentation of a yellowish 

 color in the center. This is the female. The male is a little more 

 elongated with the nipple at one end. The scales are more easily 

 seen upon the fruit of badly infested trees than upon the tree itself. 

 The scale itself would not be more readily seen but around each 

 one there is usually a bright red ring; and when full, covers nearly 

 the fruit. Upon pears and apples, they cluster more thickly around 

 the calyx. On plums and peaches the stem end suffers most. Fruit 

 so badly infested fails to mature. It cracks and become worthless. 

 When examining a tree not badly infested, you find them around 

 and beneath the buds. Where the twigs branch and offer sheltered 

 positions, you find the adult female surrounded by smaller young 

 scales of both sexes. In this condition the winter is passed by the 

 insect beneath the scale. It can be readily seen, if a knife or other 

 pointed instrument be inserted beneath the scale which on being 

 raised will expose the true louse, a small jelly-like body, flattened and 

 closely attached to the bark, minus legs or means of locomotion. 

 From these scales, the male emerges about the beginning of May. 

 About one month later the female matures. Instead of laying eggs 

 as the majority of other insects do, she gives birth to living young 

 about ten per day for a period of forty days. These young are very 

 minute yellow oblong objects with six legs, two antennae and a 

 strong beak. After birth they wander aimlessly about. I have 

 watched them for hours during which time they did not travel more 

 than an inch or two from the parent. After w^andering thus, for 

 from eighteen to forty-eight hours, they attach themselves with 

 their beak to the limb and become a permanent fixture, never there- 

 after moving from the spot. If you mark this louse and examine 

 it the following day, you will find that it no longer is as yellow but 

 is gradually becoming covered with a white substance that is exuded 

 from its body, like fine threads. In a couple of days, it is completely 



