QUESTION DRAWER. 



341 



insect, according to my observations, works 

 on the outside, and not near the trunk. The 

 terminal twigs will often curl from the ef- 

 fects of the unequal growth. In my ex- 

 perience also the limbs do not readily die for 

 some time as far in as the trunk. With re- 

 gard to treatment of the gall-louse, the in- 

 fested twigs may be cut and burned about 

 the first week in May, when there is a wool- 

 ly secretion on the twigs containing many 

 eggs. About ten days later a soap solution 

 may be applied if the cutting has been ne- 

 glected. These remedies can be used when 

 the number of trees affected is small, and 

 the size also small. When the trees are 

 both numerous and large much can be done 

 by spraying, but nature will often come to 

 •our assistance by sending along parasites, 

 which will do more to keep the lice in sub- 

 jection than all the sprays. We should be 

 pleased to get samples of the dead twigs 

 from Mr. M., for it may be that the 

 gall-louse is not the cause of the trouble in 

 his case. 



WOOD ASHES FOR STRAWBERRIES. 



Sir, — After clearing up my old strawberry plot 

 would it be advisable to sprinkle unleached wood 

 ashes over it? G. S. W. 



Hawkesbury, Ont. 



Answered by Prof. H. L. Hutt, O. A. C, 

 Guelph. 



You can seldom go astray in applying 

 plenty of unleached wood ashes upon a 

 strawberry plantation, or in fact upon any 

 of the small fruits. The ashes furnish a 

 large amount of potash and a lesser amount 

 of phosphoric acid. The extent to which 

 the soil requires these can only be deter- 

 mined by makinyf experiments, but usually 

 sandy soils are more or less deficient in pot- 

 ash, and it is upon such soils that ashes give 

 the best results. 



TEE COTTONY MAPLE SCALE. 



Sir, — I send you a sample of something that is 

 rapidly covering our maples. I, among otherp, 



would be pleased to learn the name and history of 

 the pest. J. M. M. 



Waterloo. 



Answered by Prof. Wm. Lochhead, O. A. 

 C, Guelph. 



For some years this pest has not been de- 

 structive, but this season it seems to have 

 gathered force, and is proving quite serious 

 in some sections. Alarming reports come 

 from Woodstock, and Waterloo is becom- 

 ing anxious as to the effect this pest will 

 have upon the maples. 



This insect is quite conspicuous in early 

 June on infested trees with its cottony se- 

 cretion. This waxy substance is secreted 

 by the female at the time the eggs are being 

 deposited, and forms a protective covering 

 for the eggs. At one end will be noticed 

 the oval, brown scale, the remnant of the 

 mother insect, for the insect belongs to the 

 family of scale insects (Coccidae), to which 

 also belongs the terrible San Jose scale, 

 about which much has been said, done, and 

 written during the last few years. 



The eggs laid by a single scale are very 

 numerous, and begin to hatch about the end 

 of June or the beginning of July. At this 

 time swarms of minute lice may be seen 

 crawling on the infested twigs. J hey soon 

 fix themselves to the bark by inserting their 

 beaks, and begin to suck the sap of the tree. 

 In a short time the young begin to form 

 scales of their own by secreting a waxy sub- 

 stance through certain pores on their body. 

 In September they become adult. The 

 males die before winter, but the females mi- 

 grate from the leaves to the twigs, where 

 they remain all winter. In spring the fe- 

 males grow rapidly, and the eggs are laid, 

 as already described, in the cottony sack in 

 June. 



With regard to remedies, it may be said 

 that whenever a few of the cottony sacs ap- 

 pear the best plan is to cut off and burn the 

 infested twigs, for by doing so the thou- 

 sands of eggs will be destroyed. 



