No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 735 



SPRAYING. 



Failure to protect and insure the crop against insects and fungi is, 

 in a large measure, the rule in Pennsylvania. In nearly every lo- 

 cality it is practiced by some, and invariably with beneficial results. 

 Spraying fruit trees has passed the experimental stage and all suc- 

 cessful horticulturists recognize it as one of the essentials to suc- 

 cessful fruit growing. It must be borne in mind that it will not 

 make up for lack of fertilizing or tillage. A starved tree will not 

 produce fruit. It will even cease to live, though it be exempt from 

 insects or fungi. 



Successful spraying presupposes a number of other essentials, 

 such as adaptability of varieties to localities, pruning, feeding and 

 cultivation. These are all co-ordinate and the overlooking of one 

 or more impairs the chances of success. 



SAN JOSE SCALE. 



This pest is scattered over a large portion of the State and its 

 work of destruction is hardly recognized, nor is the future damage 

 that is sure to follow, dreaded as it should be. The means of dis- 

 semination are many. Nursery stock, whether grown in this or 

 brought in from other states must have a certificate attached that 

 it is not infested. 



Presuming that this "clean bill of health'' is always right and 

 that all nursery stock is entirely free from scale lice, the fact stares 

 us in the face that the pest has taken a foothold in many localities. 

 It is here to stay, to spread and to destroy. Other pests have im- 

 paired our fruit trees, but none that infested them in the past did 

 their work of destruction so rapidly as this pest. 



Our winged friends, the birds, stand at the front as means of 

 spreading and infested the trees. Where robins are numerous, 

 they will not only infest an orchard in a single year, but carry the 

 young louse to neighboring orchards. 



While I prefer friendship for the robin and while he has on his 

 side the protecting arm of the law, I can not but give him a black 

 mark for the mischief he is engaged in and the damage he is doing 

 in infesting our fruit trees with this most pernicious of insects. 



One of the remedies mentioned is the destruction of the trees. 

 This is a heroic remedy, certainly the shortest cut, and effective, but 

 too costly. Only when trees are very badly infested, or when of no 

 special value, should they be destroyed. A good tree is worth sav- 

 ing, and this can be done at reasonable expense. Several years ago 

 the oil sprays were mostly recommended, and trees were treated 

 with varied success. The lime, sulphur and salt mixture has been 



