24 



The Ciinadiaii Horticulturist. 



January next, in their respective agricul- ance to the office of Director, and it 



tural divisions, to assist the professors of remains with our Association at the an- 



the Agricultural College in their arduous nual meeting to see to it that the best 



duties. This will add increased import- men hold the positions. 



QUESTION DRIJWER 



Hardy Crabs. 



I. A LIST of best Hardy Crabs of good 

 size, would much oblige, Daniel Uunn, 

 Jocelyn, St. Joseph's Island. 



Tr}' Van Wyck Sweet, Bailey's Crim- 

 son, Lady Elgin, Gibb, and Gideon's 

 Martha, and report. 



The Oyster-shell Bark Louse. 



2. Looking over my fruit trees now that 

 the leaves have fallen, I made the unpleasant 

 discovery that a fine healthy five-year-old 

 pear tree (Flemish Beauty) was thickly 

 infested with the Coccus or scale insect. The 

 stem, which is 3^ to 4 in. in diameter, and 

 the larger branches, were covered by myriads 

 of these noxious insects. Of course I did 

 not leave the spot until I had scraped off 

 every one I could see, and I hope I have 

 rid this tree of this pest. 



My object in writing you is to ask if it is 

 at all a common experience for pears to be 

 thus infested. I have not had much to do 

 with pears, but was under the impression 

 that whatever insect pest they were liable to 

 the Coccus was not one of them. 



The apple, I knov. , is very subject to the 

 Coccus — mine were the past year — but, 

 following your advice, I am glad to be able 

 to say they are now ;Umost free from them, 

 and I trust another year's treatment will 

 exterminate them. 



Another question I would like to have 

 answered is this — Has the Coccus, which, on 

 the tree, appears to be absolutely inert, any 

 power of locomotion ? For in destroying 

 them I simply scraped them off the bark, 

 scattering them on the ground. Is there, 

 then, any possibility, or even likelihood, of 

 their ascending the tree and resuming their 

 destructive operations. 



Our correspondent no doubt refers to 



that species of Coccid£e, commonly 



known as the Oyster-shell Bark Louse. 



We have frequently drawn the attention 



of the readers of this journal to the 



great mischief done to many of our 



finest apple orchards in Canada by this 



pernicious pest. Many trees are stunted 



in growth, and in a dying condition 

 through it, and yet the tiny insect 

 escapes notice, though careful observa- 

 tion would reveal its presence in count- 

 less numbers. 



In reply to the question we may remark 

 that, although the pear tree is not nearly 

 as subject to it as the apple tree, yet it is 

 by no means free from danger, and they 

 should be carefully inspected in those 

 sections where the scale insect abounds. 



Our correspondent's plan of scraping 

 off the scales at this season is a proper 

 one, and should be followed out by every 

 orchardist wdio discovers that his trees 

 are affected. To assist amateurs in 

 recognizing this foe we give an engraving 

 of a portion of an affected branch as it 

 appears in the winter season. It should 

 be understood that these are now simply 

 shells, covering and protecting perhaps 

 one hundred eggs each. They are the re- 

 mains of the body of the mother insect, 

 whose person is thus wholly devoted to 

 her young. The eggs when scraped off 

 upon the ground will no doubt lose their 





vitality ; but, lest any eggs should still 

 remain, the tree should be thoroughly 

 washed, about the first of June, with a 

 strong solution of washing soda and soft 

 soap. At this time the eggs hatch out, and 

 the tiny insects, scarcely discernible with- 

 out a magnifying glass, run about quite 

 lively for a few days, until they fasten 

 their beaks into some tender portion of 



