MONTHLY BULLETIN. lUO 



and other interested parties. It has been necessary for the county 

 horticultural commissioners to operate under county ordinances because 

 of limitations of the law creating their office. Such ordinances, while 

 they have served as a means towards a good end, have made much 

 trouble ; uniformity of inspection throughout the state has been impos- 

 sible and much difficulty has resulted because of a multiplicity of 

 ordinances. The contemplated change in the county horticultural com- 

 missioner law, which will give commissioners all powers now carried by 

 county ordinances, and which will make such powers uniform in every 

 county of the state, is a step in the right direction. 



The .state of Calfnrnia is blessed with some excellent horticultural 

 laws, and there is probably little need of more laws, but of strengthening 

 and co-ordinating those that already exist. Certain weaknesses in the 

 standardization laws should be eliminated, and, if possible, regulations 

 governing standardization of all deciduous fruits, at least, should be 

 included in one law. This should mean the co-ordination of the Apple 

 Act with the Deciduous Fruit Standardization Act. Inspection under 

 both acts has proved of much value, and the standards are unquestion- 

 ably much higher than ever before. The fund created by the sale of 

 standard stamps under the Apple Act has been ample to cover the cost 

 of inspection, and the system has worked perfectly. The idea of using 

 the state label as a guarantee of the contents of a box of fruit is good, 

 and while it now applies only to apples, it should be extended to all 

 fruits. 



The most careful consideration of all the details of our horticultural 

 statutes, by those who have tested them practically and who have given 

 them the closest study and attention, is necessary, and it is hoped that 

 any future legislation will be aimed toward greater uniformity- as well 

 as efficiency. — G. P. W. 



Progress of the Sicilian Mealybug Parasite. — In the November 

 (1915) number of the Monthly Bulletin the writer recorded the suc- 

 cessful breeding, linder natural conditions in the orchard, of Faralep- 

 tomastix ahjiormis, the Sicilian mealybug parasite. The observations 

 recorded at that time covered the period known as the summer months 

 and the colonies examined were planted during the spring of the same 

 season. The crucial test of an introduced species' ability to establish 

 itself in new surroundings usually takes place during the winter when 

 all insect life is in a more or less dormant state. It is very gratifying 

 to be able to record now, nearly a year since the publication of the 

 above mentioned notes, that on a trip of inspection of the parasite 

 colonies in the South during August, Paraleptomastix was found breed- 

 ing abundantly in practically every orchard where they had been liber- 

 ated the summer before. All had passed the winter successfully and 

 many of the colonies had survived fumigation and spraying as well. 

 One colony, that in the Shaw orchard at San Diego, had withstood two 

 fumigations, one only two weeks previous to the recent tour of inspec- 

 tion, and yet the parasite occurred commonly in the mealybug-infested 

 trees. 



There is no longer any doubt as to the ability of this species to live 

 and thrive in California, and it is certain to become a valuable aid in 

 the control of the citrus mealybug. Time is necessary for a new parasite 

 to become sufficiently abundant to be of practical value in the control 



