47 
very rapidly flamed. "The general results," writes Professor Sling- 
erland "were summarized as follows : First, the torch is impracticable 
for large trees of apple, plum, pear, peach, or cherry, because of the 
amount of time required to flame the whole tree. It would take a 
man several hours thus to go over one large tree ; second, there is 
great danger of injuring buds or the cambium layer on thin-barked 
trees ; third, the torch might be used on small nursery stock or orna- 
mental shrubs by an experienced operator who knew exactly what 
time to expose the plant to the flame." 
Professor Phillips, of Virginia, made use, against the San Jose 
scale, in 1903, of a torch sent by the manufacturing company for 
trial to Professor Alwood, of that state. "March 28, of this year,'" 
he says : "I used this gasoline torch on two apple-trees four years of 
age. These trees were moderately infested with the San Jose 
scale, and were treated by running the torch over the surface several 
times. One tree was exposed to the torch about twice as long as 
the other. This treatment did not appear to injure the trees, neither 
did it kill a perceptible number of insects. 
"I was not satisfied with this trial, however, and detailed a stu- 
dent assistant, Mr. E. F. Cole, to test the torch, which he did August 
7. The tree treated was a four-year-old apple, badly crusted with 
the San Jose scale. As it would be entirely impracticable to use this 
torch against the San Jose scale during the summer, this treatment 
was confined almost entirely to the trunks and main branches of this 
tree, but in treating the tree in this manner, of course a few of the 
leaves were also reached by the flame. The treatment was so severe 
that the leaves on the treated portions of the tree were killed at 
once, and when examined on August 20, portions of the bast tissues 
of the bark were found injured also. Quite a large number of scale 
insects were alive at that date. 
"Judging from these two tests, I consider that the use of this 
torch is quite tedious and impracticable, even on small trees. Be- 
sides, such a small per cent, of the San Jose scales were destroyed 
by it, even where the trees were seriously injured by its use, that I 
do not consider it a practicable remedy." 
Professor Symons, of Maryland, writes me that he personally 
conducted some experiments with the same kind of a torcH on dif- 
ferent varieties of peach and plum infested by the San Jose scale, 
but that the results were not at all satisfactory. Although the insects 
were dead two weeks later on the parts which had been hit by the 
flame, young scales were crawling about over the surface in con- 
siderable numbers, showing that it had been impossible to reach all 
parts of the tree, especially at the ends of the branches. If used 
