No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUliTURE. 155 



The county has been rather thoroughly inspected with the general 

 result that San Jos6 Scale has been found in destructive abundance 

 almost everywhere and particularly in and near the boroughs and 

 city of Harrisburg. There is scarcely a fruit tree three years old 

 within or near the boroughs and cities which does not contain the 

 San Jos6 Scale to such extent that it is dying and the little fruit 

 it will bear will be of inferior quality. It is only a matter of time 

 as to how long such trees will live and at their death their owners 

 will replant them with others which will go likewise unless the 

 practical methods of spraying be more generally adopted. 



Judging from the reports received at the office of the Zoologist, 

 at least 95 per cent, of the orchards are infested and over 75 per cent, 

 of the trees in each individual orchard are liable to carry the San 

 Jos6 Scale. A great many orchards have been killed by this pest 

 and the owners in many cases knew not what was the cause of their 

 destruction. 



The demonstration orchard established at the Dauphin County 

 Almshouse this year received considerable attention and showed 

 how the work of orchard renovation should be carried on. The 

 stew^ard reports that there is no doubt of the beneficial results of 

 this work. The fruit is much improved in both quantity and quality 

 and this is the first year for sometime that this orchard has produced 

 enough apples to supply the inmates of the institution for any con- 

 siderable time. It is desired that the demonstration work be con- 

 tinued there and as the citizens of the county appear to desire the 

 same thing, this will no doubt be done. 



Many persons are spraying, buying their sulfur by the barrel and 

 boiling it with lime in kettles, and having good results, yet it is 

 surprising to see how many persons who have infested orchards are 

 not aware of the disastrous results of leaving the trees untreated 

 after they are told that the trees are infested with San Jos^ Scale. 



There is certainly much more interest in the work of saving the 

 trees than there was two years ago, but much more interest must be 

 taken in order to obtain the best results. 



The suspension of the work would be liable to result in rein- 

 festation of the trees that have been fairly cleaned and certainly the 

 decrease of interest in this work. 



The Inspectors report that practically universally they were well 

 received and the owners considering the trees worth saving and im- 

 proving would go over the orchards with the Inspector and be glad 

 to obtain directions for treating the trees. 



The chief material used in treating the San Jos^ Scale is the 

 boiled Lime-sulfur wash, although the soluble oils were formerly 

 used to a considerable extent. These materials do not give satisfac- 

 tion and the commercial sprayers who were using them chiefly be- 

 cause they run well through the machines have now abandoned them 

 and are making and applying the home boiled Lime-sulfur wash or 

 are using the commercial concentrated Lime-sulfur solution. 



In order to help the fruit growers of this district they should 

 be shown how beneficial the spraying, pruning and cultivation is 

 for the trees. 



There is a good market for fruits in this county, and a county, 

 State or other form of horticultural display would be a great benefit. 



Also the establishment of township demonstration orchards if 

 possible would be a great help thus giTing the citi^.ens a chance Xq 



