EXPERIMENT STATION REPOET. 



573: 



SAN JOSE SCALE. 



This insect continues to demand a very large share of attention,, 

 but while it is still dreaded, it is no longer the terror and potential 

 barrier to fruit culture that it was for a time eonsiden-ed. There is 

 no doubt that thousands 

 of trees have been killed 

 and that thousands of 

 trees will yet die from 

 its attacks, but it is 

 equally true that many 

 of these thousands of 

 trees died as much from 

 neglect as from scale 

 attack, and that other 

 infested thousands will 

 die in the same w^ay. 

 During the past year 

 Mr. Dickcrson and my- 

 self have visited every 

 orchard-growing district 

 in the State, and in one 

 month I used one thou- 

 sand miles of Pennsyl- 

 vania mileage alone, 

 largely in orchard work. 

 We have seen every 

 nursery and nursery- 

 man in the State, and are in position to speak from personal ex- 

 perience concerning orchard conditions. It is my deliberate 

 opinion that no more trees will be lost from injuries caused by the 

 pernicious scale, provided the owner actively wishes to keep his 

 trees. But the man who desires to plant trees and thereafter har- 

 vest crops without further effort will find the San Jose scale a 

 frightful pest, and he will continue to rail bitterly at the emto^- 

 mologist who fails to provide him with a remedy that costs little or 

 nothing and requires no effort to apply. It means work and in- 

 telligence and intelligent work to avoid injury, and the man who 

 works most intelligently will succeed best as a fruit gi'ower. It is- 



Fig 



Section of branch infested by the pernicious scale ; 

 much enlarged. From Bulletin Virginia Station. 



