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462 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
much carecan be had in inspecting stock, cuttings, etc. before they 
are planted or otherwise used. An infested nursery can and will 
spread all kinds of noxious insects or diseases of plants; hence, it 
should be our rigid rule to buy only from respectable, educated and 
responsible nurserymen. 
The following are a few scale-insects found in our state at the 
present time. They are all more or less injurious. A 
Fic. 1.—Scale insect showing a winged male, a female removed from 
under the scale, the fringe of its caudal segment with spinnerets, a young louse, 
male and female scales and egg. 
Figure one shows the different forms, stages, etc, of a typical 
scale-insect, and figure two a colony of the cochineal insect, cele- 
brated because it produces the well known and beautiful crimson 
color. , a 
The Common Mealy-bugs (Dactylopius species). Several 
species occur in our state, and every one connected with green- 
houses or conservatories is familiar with these soft insects, of an | 
oval shape, bordered with a white fringe, and covered with a white ie 
and mealy material. They belong to the worst enemies of the 
florist and market-gardener. The insects reach a length of one-eight 
of an inch, but as they multiply very rapidly they soon make up in 
numbers what they lack in size. They lay their eggs ina loose nest 
composed of sticky white fibers. The female usually remains on 
the nest until by her increase in size she is raised away from the Boy go: 
plant, still clinging to it with the head depressed and the tail eleva- i 
ted in the air. The larve resemble the adults, and the young 
females change very little except in size. When they are two-thirds 
