1 6 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



nursery the tops of the trees were dipped in kerosene emulsion 

 to kill the lice, and though the treatment was successful, the 

 species multiplies with such rapidity that trees were again soon 

 covered. Most nurserymen declare that they cannot afford to 

 do any spraying work in their nurseries, and consequently the 

 trees are considerably dwarfed by the aphis. We found that 

 spraying the trees with, or dipping them into, common soap 

 and water (i lb. in -6 gallons) would kill all plant lice with 

 which the mixture came in contact. The apple aphis passes 

 the winteT in the egg stage on the twigs, and last winter these 

 eggs were very abundant. I have not observed so many this 

 winter. The eggs are oval in shape, black and shiny, and are 

 glued around the buds. 



Plant lice were also abundant on plum, cherry, currant and 

 in fact nearly all other kinds of plants. The protracted drought 

 in spring doubtless favored their multiplication, and later a 

 black fungus grew in the honey dew given ofif by the aphids, 

 making the trees look as if they had been scorched. Natural 

 enemies were at work, however, as aphis lions, syrphus flies, 

 and lady beetles were abundant everywhere feeding upon the 

 plant lice. 



The pear psylla Psylla pyricola Forst. was a scourge to the 

 pear trees in southern Connecticut, and specimens were received 

 from various parts of the State indicating that it was also 

 severe elsewhere. This insect, which has been mentioned sev- 

 eral times' in previous reports of this Committee, injures the 

 trees by sucking out the sap from the leaves and tender shoots, 

 like the plant lice to which it is closely related. It gives off 

 honey dew and is followed by the sooty fungus in the same 

 manner. Trees that are badly infested and not in full vigor 

 shed many or most of their leaves during July and August. 

 As the pear psylla is a difficult insect to combat, most fruit 

 growers make no attempt to control it. We found, however, 

 that a large proportion of the nymphs and some of the adults 

 could be killed by careful spraying, even in July, with soap and 

 water (i lb. in 4 gallons). 



The San Jose scale-insect has increased with great rapidity 

 during the season, and the severity of the winter, which killed 

 the peach buds and the injured trees, seemed to have no unusual 

 effect on these insects. In fact, a much larger percentage sur- 

 vived than was the case the preceding winter. Fifty-six new 



