218 



ROYAL hfOflKTY OF CANADA 



l'urce-puiiips aud nozzles, which will allow of the' use of a minimum 

 quantity of a suitable insecticide, so that no injury mïiy be done by it 

 to the foliage treated, while at the same time the marauding insects are 

 destroyed. 



The San José Scale {Aspidiotus perniciosus, Comstk.). — Probably 

 no insect which has claimed the attention of entomologists has caused 



more excitement or provcil more dif" 



M ficult to control than this minute 



^HJA scale-insect, which was given its 



^^^r popular name by fruit shippers in 



^Bf ^^^^^^HH^^^ 1873, from in California 



where it was lirst noticed. It was 

 not till 1880 that Prof. Comstock 

 joointed out the groat loss which it 

 was causing and gave it the specific 

 name oi" perniciosus on account of the 

 extent of its injuries. Up to 1892 

 ilie San José Scale Avas thought to be 

 iintincd in North America to the 

 Pacific Coast, but during the summer 

 of 1893 it appeared in injurious num- 

 bers in the Eastern States, and in 

 1894 the first Canadian sjiecimens 

 were rcceivctl from near Kelowna^ 

 on Lake Okanagan, British Colum- 

 bia. (Fanner's Advocate, London, 

 Ont., Dec, 1894). The infested trees were destroyed, and it was not 

 until 1896 that the insect was again found injuring fruit trees, this 

 time in two localities on Vancouver Island. By the destruction of the 

 trees this importation was again entirely wiped out, and no fttrther 

 appearance of the San José Scale in British Columbia has so far oc- 

 curred. The history of the San José Scale as an injurious fruit pest 

 in Canada begins with the spring of 1897, when in the month of Janu- 

 ary, undoubted specimens were found at Chatham, Kent Co., Ontario, 

 and soon afterwards near Niagara, in Lincoln County. Since that time 

 its injuries and the efforts which have been made by the Federal and 

 Provincial Governments have been a subject of absorbing interest and 

 will, I fear, continue to be so for some time to come. As yet, no prac- 

 tical remedy suitable for general application by the ordinary fruit 

 grower has been discovered, although fumigation with hydrocyanic acid 

 gas, a dangerous operation with most poisonous materials, has proved 

 offectivd in tho hands of specialists when perfonned with great care. 

 The best simple remedy is the spraying of the infested trees after close 



Fig. 10.— The San[ José Scale : apple 

 branch with scales; large scales 

 above at left. 



