Miscellaneous. 395 



protected from injury by mice by mounding up with earth for a distance 

 of 4 or 5 inches on the stem, each fall. A large number of young fruit 

 trees are destroyed annually by mice which might be protected from in- 

 iurv in this wav. 



METHODS OF DESTROYING SAN JOSE SCALE. 



The closing days of winter have been found to be the best time to 

 fight the San Jose scale, as the mixtures employed for spraying are so 

 strong that they should be applied only when the tree is in a dormant con- 

 dition. Last fall, many growers in the neighborhood of Washington, D. 

 C, found that their fruit trees had been attacked by the San Jose scale, 

 and the Department of Agriculture was called upon for help. The official 

 Entomologist declares that when the trees are heavily infested the best 

 thing to do is to dig them out root and branch. By proper repressive 

 and remedial treatment, however, an orchard can be protected from the 

 insect pest. 



The means most strongly advised consists of the use of a lime, salt 

 and sulphur wash. This is not effective unless followed by ten days or 

 two weeks of comparatively dry weather; but given such favorable con- 

 ditions, it has shown most satisfactory results. Experiments have 

 proved that in most cases this wash is nearly as efficient as the treatments 

 with oil and soap, and has at the same time the advantage of far less 

 cost than these methods. It is a winter application and may be used at 

 any time between January and the period of leafing. The formula is : 

 Unslacked lime, ,"^0 pounds; sulphur, 20 pounds; salt, 15 pounds. Mix 

 in a barrel with 30 or 40 gallons of water, and boil for several hours. It 

 should then be diluted to make 60 gallons of wash, and may be prefer- 

 ably applied at a high temperature. Smaller quantities can be prepared 

 by employing the same proportions of ingredients. 



It should be applied every year, or as often as the scale develops in 

 considerable numbers. It leaves a limy coating on the trees which acts 

 as a deterrent to the young scale Hce, and unless washed away by rain, 

 retains its value as an insecticide coating for some time. 



Another good treatment consists in dissolving fish-oil soap, made 

 with potash lye, in water, boiling it at the rate of 20 pounds of soap to 

 a gallon of water. If applied hot and on a relatively mild day in winter, 

 it can easily be put on the trees with an ordinary spray pump. Pears 

 and apples may be sprayed at any time during the winter; peach and 

 plum trees are best sprayed in spring, shortly before the buds swell, as 



