﻿THE CITRUS MEALY BUG 293 



two and three times as great as that rocjuired to kill most other scale insects. 

 Experience to date seems to show that satisfactor_v control by either nietho<l 

 IS impracticable. In California reliance for the control is at present ceiitere<l 

 on natural enemies." A. \V. ?*Iorrill, Ent. of Ariz . in Circ. No. 7, .Ariz. Hort. 

 Com. (1910). 



"This (mealy bug) is one of the most serious jjcsts on citrus trees at 

 present and we are sorry to sa}' seems to be on the increase in spite of all 

 measures of control." (). E. liremner, Sec. State Hort. Com. of Calif, in De- 

 structive Insects and Their Control, p. 32 (1910). 



From the foregoing it will be seen that something should l)e done nn- 

 mediatel}- u]ion finding mealy Inigs in or near any citrus hjcalitv. Those 

 districts w hich are at present ignoring the mealy bug in spite of its presence 

 are sure to pay the penalty. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the matter 

 of thorough inspection of infected districts and of (|uick and siJcedy eradica 

 tion at any cost. 



Ol'.\R.\NTINlC. 



The general excuse for allowing the mealy Inig to pass unmolested has 

 always been that there was no way. yet known, by which to effectually cope 

 with it. \Mn'le this excuse is jierfectly valid if considering the matter of 

 complete extermination, it has been invalidly employed as an evasion of the 

 entire problem of control. Regardless of everything pertaining to the methods 

 of extermination, the matter of i|uarantine should have been forced as soon 

 as the mealy bug was found out to be an orchard pest. Even to-day we 

 find the most thoughtless, and absolutely unexcusable carelessness exercised 

 by many of the County Horticultural Commissioners and their Inspectors 

 regarding it. 



As stated before the pest to-day exists in practically every greenhouse 

 in Southern California. Xo one is responsible for its existence ; bitt those 

 in power should be held responsible for its ready and careless distribution 

 from these places. 



.\t the least we may follow out some of the following important (|uar- 

 antinc measures : 



Trri'-to-Trcc hisf'cclioii. Xo one who owns an old orcharil is absolutely 

 sure what pests it may contain. In order to ascertain the distribution of pests, 

 it is therefore necessary to effect a systematic inspection of all infected ;uid 

 uninfected districts. This can only be done by a tree-to-trcc ins|)ection jier- 

 formed by inspectors who know their business. If it is ])roperly done, the 

 results are sometimes marvelous. The following work actually done may 

 serve to illustrate : 



Diu-ing the summer of I'W, a trec-to-tree inspection was made r)f the 

 ClareuKint, romona, Xorlh Pomona, and San Dimas Districts. Ab)si of the 

 territory was su]i]X)sed to be free from serious pests. During the first month 

 mealy bug was discovered in the Claremont district, miles from ,iny district 

 known to be infested with this pest. P.efore the end of the season, pnr|)le 



