ee ee ee A ae ee oe | A eee 
’ : ‘a. Natl Sie 
118 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
aid, and the result was that not a hill of potatoes was seriously in- 
jured, and no Paris green or other poison was needed. 
In the early part of the season, the codlin moth did not appear to 
be very numerous and the June brood of worms in the apples were 
so scarce that the usual precautions were not taken to preventa 
later supply,and the consequence was that the applecrop being un- 
usually light, in the late fall there was scarcely a specimen to be 
found that did not contain a worm, although they did not show it 
until considerably later than usual. The apple gouger got in his 
work as usual, and unless some practical method can be discovered 
for trapping or heading him off, we must abandon all hopes of rais- 
ing smooth, fair apples. Spraying for them is of little use; jarring 
the trees and catching them on a sheet spread under is one of the 
most effectual means we know of for getting them out of the way. A 
portion of our orchard is in grass, which was not removed at the 
preper time on account of scarcity of help. Late in the fall fire ran 
through it,burning all the grass,leaves and refuse. Some of the trees 
were considerably injured, but the fruit was almost entirely free 
from the marks of the gouger and, also, less affected by the codlin 
worm. Two or three trees standing in the cow pasture also were 
more exempt than others in the main orchard. Clear cultivation, 
removal and burning ofall rubbish and keeping hogs in the orchard 
at certain times,all act as safeguards against the increase of insects 
of this class. 
Another class of insects that appear to be on the increase is the 
bark louse, or scale. Our state has always been a favorite place for 
disposing of rubbish that accumulates in some of the nurseries of 
other states. Reliable nurserymen do not do a business of that kind, 
but bogus nursery firms and tree pedlers purchase such stock at low 
prices, and sell to our farmers at exhorbitant prices very ordinary 
trees that are often infested with insects and disease. The scurvy 
bark louse and the oyster shell are in the state to some extent, but, 
probably, not doing much damage ouly on stunted, half dead trees 
of varieties that are of doubtful hardiness. They do not thrive on 
healthy, vigorous trees that are well cared for. There is great dan- 
ger of the worst of all these insects, the San Jose scale, being intro- 
duced by the purchasing of apple, plum, apricot and pear trees 
brought in from infected districts. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture,has 
sent out warnings to our pomologists to be on guard against this 
pest, of which there is considerable danger of its being introduced. 
If it should once become permanently established here as it has in 
California, it would cost a few hundred thousand dollars to fight 
and rout it out and we want to bear in mind that we live in a state 
where fruit growing is not one of the leading industries and that,for 
that reason, it is difficult to get legislative aid in the interest of hor- 
ticulture. I quote from “Insect Life,” a journal published by the 
U.S. Dept. of Agrculture, the following description of the trees in- 
fested with it. “During the summer it is noticable that the scale 
has a tendancy to infest only the extremes of the trees or the new 
growth, especially of the lower branches and the fruit. The leaves 
are attacked along the midrib of the upper sides of the leaf in one, 
