28 THE REPORT OF THE [No. 19 



little has been done to check it. The San Jose Scale has spread much during the past 

 season and it is now abundant where it was hardly noticeable last year. It seems to me 

 as if this scale question is going to develop into a great national calamity, and the time will 

 come I fear when our grandchildren may have to tell their children of the good old times 

 in Ontario when people used to be able to grow apples and other fruits. 



With regard to the work of the scale it was formerly claimed that the fruit of the 

 peach would not be injured on account of the fuzzy down upon its surface, but during 

 the past summer I have seen peaches so covered with scales as to have the appearance of 

 red apples, from the discoloration due to the irjurious presence of the insect. 



Mr. Fisher here gave a review of the history of the San Jo?e Scale in Ontario and 

 the excellent work that had been done by the Government in fighting it and protecting 

 the fruit growers from loss. He was glad to find that public opinion was changing 

 rapidly with regard to the work that was being done. He said " at Niagara, particularly, 

 everybody is realizing that a very great danger threatens them and that something must 

 be done or their interests will be destroyed. The fruit interests in Ontario are very great. 

 One gentleman in St. Catharines sold $10,000 worth of peaches in 1899 and another at 

 Niagara sold over $4,000 worth this year, and these peaches do not by any means 

 represent their whole crop of fruit, as there are plums, cherries, peara, apples and small 

 fruits beside. Some years of experience have taught us that when once we discover the 

 San Jos^ Scale in an orchard no i^ea can be formed without close examination as to the 

 extent of the infestation. In 1899 one orchard was examined carefully and 87 trees were 

 marked — about the middle of this summer I visited this orchard and traversed it from 

 one corner to the other, and I found the scale on every single tree I examined, and more- 

 over on the very first twig I took hold of in every case. A good deal has been said about 

 the rate at which scales can travel, and I am sure that this has been underrated. I have 

 watched them a great many times and find that the young larvae can travel an inch in a 

 quarter of an hour so that in a week they could travel half way across an orchard, and if 

 blown to the ground I am quite sure they are capable of getting back again on to the 

 tree. In addition to this there is no doubt they will crawl on to everything that moves 

 and by that means will be carried in every direction. The increase of the scale is very 

 rapid indeed towards the end of the season, especially during the month of September. 

 Notwithstanding all that I have said, and remembering the state of afiairs on Oatawba 

 leland, it would seem that if an orchard is treated conscientiously and regularly the scale 

 will not exist in sufficient numbers to materially mar the crop of fruit. This is particu- 

 larly true of the early varieties, which are practically developed before the season of the 

 greatest increase of the scale. I may mention that during the past season I have noticed 

 a very large number of the little black lady bird beetles (Pentilia misella) which have 

 done such good work in feeding on the scale. 



Dr. Fletcher congratulated the Society on having Mr. Fisher present at the meeting. 

 His excellent and careful work on the San Jose Scale was well known. He was 

 somewhat disappointed at the results of Mr. Fisher's experiments with whale oil 

 soap. This remedy was an extremely valuable one, he had used it a good deal and con- 

 sidered that a good caustic potash fish oil soap such as the Ohio soap made by Mr. Owen, 

 was one of the very best remedies against plant lice and bark lice of all kinds, moreover 

 the amount of potash 12% was sufficient to act as a decided fertilizer to the trees. Many 

 have noticed the good effect of this soap upon trees where it had been used. It was also 

 claimed by the manufacturers to be an excellent remedy against the Peach Leaf Curl and 

 some other fungous diseases. He considered that the thanks of the Society were due to 

 the Honorable Minister of Agriculture for instructing Mr. Fisher to attend the meeting 

 and to Mr. Fisher himself for the valuable and practical address he had given. Every- 

 body who heard Mr. Fisher knew that he himself believed every word he stated, and 

 that every experiment he recorded had actually been carried out by himself. 



Prof. Webster, of Wooster, Ohio, spoke in complimentary terms of Mr. Fisher's 

 address and said that his information was so valuable because he told us what he had 

 seen with his own eyes, not what he had learned from others. He himself was afraid to 

 recommend crude petroleum /or general use as he had known of several instances of in- 

 jury to trees, but doubtless many successful experiments had been put on record. 



A general conversation then took place on the suVject of the San Joi6 Scale, and 

 all united in the belief that the attack upon our fruit-trees is a most serious one and that 



