39 



orchard of about 500 vvinesap apples. Scale insects were discovered 

 on these trees, he thought in 1898, about three years after setting. 

 The insects were discovered in the summer, and five trees out of the 

 500 or more were quite badly coated. There had been, of course, 

 some spread to other trees. The 3^oung orchard was in a ver}^ beauti- 

 ful condition, and the owner had appealed to him to do something to 

 stop the spread of the insects. He had already been making experi- 

 ments in the waj^ of summer work, and so he recommended spraying 

 these trees with pure kerosene, 150° flash test, and this had been done. 

 Three of the trees had died from the treatment. They were covered 

 with the scale, and of course were weak from the efl'ect of the insect. 

 Two of them had lived through the application of pure kerosene in 

 the summer and are still Jiving, and up to the present time were free 

 from scale. He further stated that he had applied kerosene to some 

 thousands of trees in the summer time, and in no case had trees been 

 killed by its use except where he had killed them purposely in order 

 to determine how much oil the trees could stand. 



In the case of the young orchard cited, the insects had not all been 

 exterminated and the oil was again applied in the dormant season, and 

 this was repeated in 1900. In 1901 the application had been changed 

 to crude petroleum late in the winter season or early in the spring. 

 The scale was not eradicated by this treatment, and crude petroleum 

 was used again in 1902. He thought the last application had largely 

 eradicated the scale; but he had visited the orchard the 1st of Septem- 

 ber, 1902, and had found a very few San Jose scale on five trees. The 

 infestation was chiefly at the base of the trees in the region where 

 the trunks of the trees and soil come together. Some few had been 

 found in crevices of the bark. He explained that this instance was 

 mentioned because that orchard to-day is a remarkably fine one, 8 

 years old, apparently uninjured by the treatment, and the scale, while 

 not eradicated, has been so thoi'oughly repressed that it had accom- 

 plished no harm. The trees that were first so thoroughly treated with 

 the pure kerosene are apparently free from the scale. There are a 

 few trees in the orchard which were never badly infested, probablj' 

 six or eight, which are still slightly infested. This is only one of a 

 good many cases in Virginia which could be mentioned, but was to be 

 considered illustrative of the work where intelligently done. 



Mr. Fiske stated that in Georgia the San Jose scale had been the 

 chief feature of the work of the department of entomology for a good 

 many years past. They had been obliged to fight it with every known 

 means, and for some years oil had been recommended. In a way the 

 oil treatment had been successful where applied correctl3^ Still there 

 had been a good deal of complaint from growers that peach trees had 

 been killed by the oil and that the fruit buds had been injured. He 

 had found in comparing the published results with oil in the difl'erent 

 parts of the country that a consideral)le difi'erence of opinion prevails 



