522 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' DEPARTMENT. 



FUMIGATION IN VENTURA COUNTY AND ITS COST. 



By A. A. Brock, County Horticultural Commissioner, Ventura, Cal. 



In suceessfnl citrus growing fumigating is as necessary as any other 

 one operation. If fumigation is not practiced the larger part of our 

 irrigation, pruning, cultivation and fertilizing is lost. 



TIME TO FUMIGATE. 



Where the hatch is even, the groves should be fumigated between 

 September 1st and January 1st, but where the hatch is uneven it is 

 hard to get a very large percentage of the scale, unless they are care- 

 fully watched and the work is begun just as soon as they are all hatched 

 and before they are too large. In many cases this is impossible, as 

 many are too large before hatching is finished. In a case of this kind 

 the work will have to be done when it is thought the largest percentage 

 can be killed. In a grove where the hatch is very uneven, an early 

 fumigation, followed by a later one, may give goocl results. In many 

 young groves about all of the good derived from the first fumigation is 

 to even up the hatch. 



LENGTH OF TIME BETWEEN FUMIGATIONS. 



This also depends largely on uniformity of hatch. If the scales are 

 about all of one size and the work is properly done, the grove should 

 remain clean for at least two years. 



RESULT OF TOO LONG DELAYED FUMIGATION. 



The fruit becomes very dirty, and washing adds expense. The severe 

 washing necessary to remove the sooty mold fungus causes an unusually 

 large per cent of the fruit to break down with decay, and a still larger 

 loss is occasioned by black scale ; trees badly infested with this scale will 

 not set large crops of fruit. 



THE COST— DOES IT PAY? 



In Ventura County 162,583 trees were fumigated during the fall and 

 Avinter of 1914-1915. This cost the citrus growers $44,033.61, averag- 

 ing 27 cents per tree. In some parts of the county the cost was as low 

 at 15^ cents per tree, while in other districts the cost ran as high as 

 34 cents per tree; but in most districts the average cost for large trees 

 was from 22 to 27 cents per tree. At present I am not in a position to 

 say Avhether or not these figures represent the average annual cost of 

 fumigation in this county, but judging from the districts in the county 

 with which I have been familiar for several years, I would say they are 

 low, as I have known almost this amount to be expended in one district 

 during the season of 1913. 



In answering the question : Does fumigation pay ? I would say, Does 

 the best of care in citrus culture pay? 



