26 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



success and failure in many of our unirrigatecl orchards during the 

 past year. 



Light tillage implements should be employed in cultivation and mulch 

 production wherever possible. Heavy disk implements Avith the more 

 numerous horses employed all assist in plowsole formation. The ordi- 

 nary tooth cultivator of the Planet Junior type with one or two horses 

 is far to be preferred, especially on our sandy soils. 



MEALY BUG PARASITES IN THE FAR EAST. 



By Harry S. Smith^ Superintendent, State Insectary. 



The following brief report on some work with beneficial insects is 

 submitted in anticipation of the more complete account of the trip to 

 the Orient because of repeated requests from our growers for informa- 

 tion regarding it. 



At the outset I wish publicly to express my appreciation to the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture of the Japanese Government, and 

 to the Bureau of Agriculture of the Government of the Philippines 

 for the most cordial way in w^hich they assisted me. Every facility 

 from assistants to insectaries was placed at my disposal, to say nothing 

 of the valuable professional advice on local conditions, which was so 

 freely accorded me by the entomologists of the two governments. The 

 Japanese entomologists are very clever in manipulating and shipping 

 live insects, and the success of the trip, so far as obtaining Japanese 

 insects is concerned, is due largely to their skill. 



Just what the final outcome of the work will l)e no one can foresee. 

 We can only collect and attempt to introduce into California the 

 enemies of our various pests, and then let nature take her course. The 

 important thing is to give the newly introduced insects as nearly an 

 ideal (i. e., to the parasites) environment as possible. After that has 

 been done we can only wait. 



In inaugurating a new and active program for the insectary, begin- 

 ning with the spring of 1913, it was decided to turn our attention first 

 and most forcibly toward introducing the enemies of Pseudococcus citri. 

 This insect, which has been the source of so much worry and loss to the 

 citrus growers, seems to be proof against artificial means of control 

 such as fumigation and spraying. Natural enemies at this time seem 

 to be almost the only chance. I do not mean by this that there is 

 danger of the mealy bug ruining the citrus industry, or even approach- 

 ing that ; but until the pest is controlled it will continue to be a severe 

 drain on the finances of certain of the citrus growing sections. By 

 reason of this fact the decision was early reached to direct our first 

 efforts toward the subjugation of the citrus mealy liug. 

 • In Japan there is found a mealy bug which has been known as 

 Pseudococcus citri. Doctor Kuwana tells me that it differs in some 

 respects from our P. citri, and may not he the same species, although it 

 is very similar. In that country the mealy bug is never a pest of any 

 importance. A few trees of the Satsuma orange in the vicinity of 

 Okitsu were found slightly infested with mealy Img, and in this place 

 three promising enemies were found : One is a ladybird, the name as 

 yet unknown to me, resembling in a general way, Crijptolamus mon- 



