84 Report of State Board of Horticulture. 



served between the nipple and the outside edge; and if it 

 be carefully raised with the point of a pin or a knife there- 

 will be revealed a minute bright yellow object, the ins set 

 itself. (See Fig. 3.) 



On badly infested plants the young scales settle wherever 

 there is room to insert a beak into the bark, and as they 

 increase in size they become much crowded and overlapped 

 and have the appearance of a gray, scurvy deposit on the 

 bark. The natural color of the bark is obscured and the in- 

 fested plant appears as though coated with fine ash-colored 

 bran. If the thumbnail or other object is rubbed over this 

 scurvy covering, thereby crushing the insects beneath the 

 scales, a moist or oily appearance is produced and numero.is 

 scales will be overturned and many of the little yellow insects 

 be revealed. 



During the early stages of an attack very few if any of 

 the scales will settle upon the leaves or fruit. Later both 

 may be attacked. Upon the leaves, especially of the prune 

 and peach, the young scales may be found on both surfaces,. 

 and more particularly clustered along the midrib. Each 

 scale produces a minute purple spot. Upon purple prunes, 

 red apples, etc., the scales appear only as minute gray specks 

 usually clustered about the cavities at either end, but upon 

 the yellow fruits like pears, peaches, and the yellow pluiTs 

 and apples, each scale produces a bright, reddish discolora- 

 tion. If badly infested, the fruit, particularly of pears and 

 apples, become much pitted, distorted in shape, cracked and 

 unmarketable. (See Fig. 2.) 



For the benefit of fruit inspectors in particular, it should 

 be noted that reddish discolorations upon yellow fruits are 

 not always caused by San Jose scale. Upon yellow apples 

 and particularly upon peaches, very similar spots are pro- 

 duced by attacks of certain minute fungi. Hence, such spots 

 should not in themselves be taken as proof of infestation by 

 the scale. The presence of such blotches may well arouse 

 suspicion of the presence of San Jose scale and should chal- 

 lenge a careful examination alike by growers, buyers and 

 inspector; so also should the presence of dead and shrivelled 

 leaves upon the trees in widwinter invite examination for^ 



