REPORT OF TEE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST 199 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



of neglecting this terrible pest, yet there are many owners of small orchards who are 

 doing nothing whatever to save their trees, and these centres are sources of public 

 danger. An interesting occurrence of the small parasitic beetle Pentilia misella, Lee, 

 was brought to my notice by Mr. W. O. Burgess, of Queenston, Ont. This useful 

 little coccinellid was found in some abundance on apple and plum trees infested by the 

 San Jose scale. It is a well known parasite of that scale insect, and although it has 

 on several occasions been found in considerable numbers in infested orchards, I have 

 never been able to see that it affected the abundance of the scales appreciably. 



The Minister of Agriculture still maintains the fumigating stations at Van- 

 couver, B.C., Winnipeg, Man,, Windsor and Niagara Falls, Out., St. Johns, Que., and 

 St. John, N.B. ; and a great deal of nursery stock has been passed through them dur- 

 ing the past season. A rigorous watch has been kept on every kind of nursery stock 

 which could possibly bring in fresh importations of the San Jose Scale, and I have 

 again this year the greatest satisfaction in reporting that no single instance has been 

 brought to my notice of living scales having been detected on trees which had passed 

 through the fumigating houses. The superintendents at all of the stations have done 

 their work carefully and well, and no complaints have been received from importers, 

 either as to the slight delay which must occur while the stock is being treated, or as 

 to any injury to the trees during the necessary unpacking, handling and repacking. 

 Careful experiments have shown that the formula used at our federal fumigation sta- 

 tions is thoroughly eifective in killing the San Jose Scale, and does not in any way in- 

 jure the stock submitted to the gas. The formula used is one ounce of cyanide of 

 potassium (98 per cent), one ounce of commercial sulphuric acid and three ounces of 

 water — exposure, 45 minutes. 



During 1903 the experiments which had been carried on up to that time by the On- 

 tario government to discover a practical remedy for the San Jose Scale were discon- 

 tinued. After having demonstrated by the excellent work and most careful experi- 

 ments of Mr. Geo. E. Fisher that this insect could be controlled by practical measures, 

 the Provincial Minister of Agriculture considered it wise not to carry on these experi- 

 ments any longer. Consequently, during the past summer, although helped with advice 

 and publications by the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Prof. W. Loch- 

 head, of the Guelph Agricultural College, fruit-growers have had to attend to this 

 part of their work themselves. Some have applied the reconunended measures and 

 have been quite successful in their efforts when the work v/as done thoroughly, but the 

 scale has increased to an alarming extent during 1903. The consensus of opinion is 

 that when the well known lime, sulphur and salt wash, or the recent modification of it, 

 in which the salt is omitted, is applied thoroughly as a late winter wash, it is a safe 

 and reliable remedy for the San Jose Scale. It kills by contact with the scale and acts 

 mechanically by coating the trees so that they are unsuitable for the young scales to 

 establish themselves upon. This wash is used as a winter wash, and should be followed 

 in summer with sprayings of the 1 to 6 kerosene emulsion. The preparation, as de- 

 scribed in previous reports and as used to-day in many places, consists of about one 

 pound of lime, half a pound of sulphur and six ounces of salt to every gallon of water 

 in the wash when ready for use. Mr. G. E. Fisher, who tried an enormous number 

 of experiments, found that the results of his investigation justified him in recommend- 

 ing that the salt might be omitted without loss of insect killing power. The original 

 formula of the California wash is : 



LIME-SULPHUR-SALT 'WASII. 



Lime, unslaked 40 lbs. 



Sulphur.* 20 " 



Salt 15 " 



Water 60 gallons. 



The chief dlfiiculty in making this wash has been the expense and inconvenience 

 oi boiling it for two or three hours, so as to thoroughly dissolve the sulphur. This may 



