REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 491 



from tlie end by substituting an ordinary jet and the wire extension, 

 which is simply an extension tube screwed over the nipple, the end • 

 of the tube being covered with wire netting, wliich breaks up the 

 liquid forced through it, and which for force and fine division of the 

 particles has some advantages over the San Jose nozzle. Finally, 

 if a series of blind caps and several sets of caps of varying aperture 

 are kept on hand, the spray may be adjusted at will, and to suit the 

 conditions of wind, pump force, &c,, tliat have to be dealt with. 



Fumigating. — Fumigating the trees will always have the disad- 

 vantage, as compared with spraying, that the mechanism is more 

 cumbersome, the time required greater, and the first cost in making 

 preparation heavier; and these factors will always give spraying the 

 advantage with small proprietors or those who have to deal with 

 young trees. As an offset to these drawbracks fumigation has the 

 merit of more effectually reaching all the insects upon a tree, and this 

 alone would under some circumstances justify the greater first cost 

 and trouble in preparing movable tents for the purpose, providing 

 always that a gas, vapor, or fume be discovered that will rapidly kill 

 all the insects without injuring the tree; virtues not easily combined 

 in such subtile media. 



In Florida proper spraying has been found to be so effectual and 

 satisfactory that no elaborate experiments in fumigating have been 

 undertaken, and we are fully satisfied that proper spraying will also 

 prove sufficient in California. But so much poor work has been done 

 and so many defective washes used that many growers have become 

 discouraged, and quite a disposition has been shown to either cut down 

 the trees or resort to fumigation as a last resource. In connection 

 with Mr. Alexander Craw, Mr. Coquillett has conducted some experi- 

 ments in the Wolfskill orchard at Los Angeles, which lead them to 

 believe that they have discovered a gas which possesses the requisite 

 qualities, and trees that had been treated and which we examined 

 pretty carefully would seem to justify their hopes. Several ingenious 

 movable-tent contrivances are also being developed in Los Angeles 

 County that give promise of practical utility and feasibility, and 

 which we may have more to say about on some future occasion. 



Bandages around the Trunk. — There is always danger that a 

 tree once sprayed will get reinfested from the insects that have not 

 been reached upon adjacent plants or upon the ground, and which in 

 time crawl up the trunk. Any of the sticky bandages used for the 

 canker-worm will check this ascent, but when placed directly on the 

 trunk may do more harm than good. They should be placed upon 

 strips of tar or other stout paper or felting, tied by a cord around the 

 middle, the upper end flared slightly outward, and the space between 

 it and the trunk filled with soil, to prevent the insects from creeping 

 beneath. Cotton should not be iised for this purpose, as birds for 

 nesting purposes carry away particles of it containing the young in- 

 sects, and thus help to disseminate them. 



Conclusion. — All possible care should be taken in cultivating and 

 harvesting the crop to prevent dissemination of the young upon 

 clothing, packing-boxes, &c., and too much care cannot be exercised 

 in endeavors to prevent the introduction of the species from infested 

 to non-infested regions. Next to destructive locusts no insect has been 

 more fully legislated against than this Icenja in Calif ornia. Yet while 

 some good has resulted, the laws have too often proved inoperative, 

 either through the negligence or ignorance of the officers appointed to 



