The Canadian Horticulturist, 65 



distributed through the State of New Jersey. Prof. J- B. Smith says (Insect 

 Life, VII., p. 166) : " The Idaho pear has been the most dangerous because it 

 came infested whenever imported direct, and after it came in close order, 

 Madame Von Siebold, Garber, I^wson, Seckel, Lawrence and Bartlett. Other 

 varieties are also infested, but less frequently, and the scales do not do so well. 

 Kieffers alone are absolutely exempt, and closely following comes the Leconte, 

 ■which is rarely infested in the nursery, and never in the orchard, in my ex- 

 perience. One tree grafted with Lawson and Kieffer had the Lawson branch 

 and fruit covered with scales, while the Kieffer branch was entirely free. Cur- 

 rants, black and red, became rapidly infested, and the scales were certainly 

 distributed on these plants." 



Mr. Howard says that this insect spreads rapidly for a scale insect, and is 

 the most dangerous scale known. It is, too, inconspicuous, and would be over- 

 looked by many. Specimens of infested apple boughs received from British 

 Columbia were entirely incrusted with the scales so as to give them the appear- 

 ance of having been dusted with ashes. Mr. Howard gives the following 

 description of the scale in his circular above referred to : " The San Jose Scale 

 belongs to the same group of scale insects — the Diaspins, or armoured scales — 

 to which the Oyster-shell Bark-louse of the apple belongs. It differs from this 

 species, and in fact from all other eastern species found upon deciduous fruit 

 trees, in that the scale is perfectly round, or at most very slightly elongated or 

 irregular. It is flat, pressed close to the bark, resembles the bark of the twigs 

 in color, and when fully grown is about one eighth of an inch in diameter. At 

 or near the middle of each scale is a small, round, slightly elongated, black point ; 

 or this point may sometimes appear yellowish When occurring upon the bark 

 of the twigs or leaves, in large numbers, the scales lie close to each other, fre- 

 quently overlapping, and are at such times difficult to distinguish without a mag- 

 nifying glass. The general appearance which they present is of a grayish, very 

 slightly roughened scurfy deposit. 



The natural rich reddish color of the limbs of the peach and apple is quite 

 obscured when these trees are thickly infested, and they have then every appear- 

 ance of being coated with lime or ashes. When the scales are crushed by scrap- 

 ing, a yellowish oily liquid will appear, resulting from the crushing of the soft 

 yellow insect beneath the scales, and this will at once indicate to one who is not 

 familiar with their appearance the existence of healthy living scales on the trees. 

 During winter the insect is to be found in the half-grown or nearly full grown 

 condition. The young begin to hatch and to crawl from under the female 

 scales shortly after the trees leaf out, and from this time through the summer 

 there is a constant succession of generations. The insect affects not only the 

 voung twigs and limbs, and with young trees, the entire plant, but is also found 

 upon the leaves and upon the fruit. When abundant the fruit is destroyed. 

 One of the most characteristic points in the appearance of the insect upon fruit, 

 ;s the purple discoloration around the edge of each scale. 

 3 



