THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



399 



eggs in a cottony mass. The mealy bugs attack all parts of the tree. 

 They may cluster on the fruit, and many will be found in the navel 

 ends of the oranges. They exude large quantities of honeydew, upon 

 which the sooty mold or black smut fungus groAvs, and as in the case 

 of infestation by the black scale, the fruit is covered with the mold 

 and must be washed. The insects are most abundant during the 

 spring and in the fall, being found in the summer time mostly on the 

 trunks in cracks. 



The waxy coating secreted by this pest renders it difficult to con- 

 trol. The spray which has been found to be the most efficient by 

 E. 0. Essig in his work against this insect, is the carbolic acid emul- 

 sion, prepared as follows :* 



Water 40 gallons 



AVhale-oil soap 40 pounds 



Crude carbolic acid 5 gallons. 



Bring the water to the boiling point in an iron kettle, dissolve the 

 soap, then add the crude carbolic acid and heat to the boiling point for 



Fig. 86. — Masses of citrus mealy bug, Pseudococcus citri, on lemon. (Photo by Essig.) 



ten or fifteen minutes. The resulting mixture should be a thick, light, 

 creamy emulsion. 



Dilute one gallon of this stock emulsion with 20 gallons of water. 

 The best time to spray appears to be. during the fall, winter and 

 spring months, between October and March, when the insects are most 

 abundant, and the young are hatching. Beside the citrus trees are 

 more dormant at this period of the year, and are better able to with- 

 stand the spring spray. The mealy bugs are quite resistant to fumiga- 

 tion, and a repetition of small doses, one-half to three-fourths of the 

 full schedule No. 1, according to Essig, has given as good results -is 

 excessive doses tirst tried out. In Ventura County Essig obtained 

 good results by using three-fourths schedule No. 1, making a second 

 charge at the end of the first hour, thus using two doses at hourly 

 intervals, making the entire exposure tw'o hours. 



♦Injurious and Beneficial Insects of California, by E. O. Essig, supplement to The 

 Monthly Bulletin of the State Commission of Horticulture, Vol. IV, No. 4. 



