216 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



stock. This insect attacks practically all of the 

 deciduous fruit trees and many ornamental trees and 

 shrubs, covering the bark with a grayish scurfy 

 coating. It is especially injurious to the peach, 

 since, when present in great numbers, it quickly 

 lowers the vitality of the tree, frequently killing it 

 outright by the second year. Many fine orchards 

 in all parts of the country have been ruined by this 

 insect. For a long time entomologists were at a 

 loss to determine the original home of this insect, 

 as it is now so widely scattered in all parts of the 

 world. Since this has finally been determined, great 

 efforts have been made to find and introduce its 

 natural native enemies, but so far the practical results 

 obtained have not equaled the expectations that were 

 warranted by the success of such importations in 

 other cases. The usual methods employed for com- 

 bating this most serious pest are the use of contact 

 poisons for spraying and washing the trunks, or 

 fumigation with hydrocyanic gas under tents. The 

 latter method is cumbersome and expensive, so 

 reliance is usually placed on spraying. Various 

 substances have been widely recommended for this 

 purpose and have been used with more or less success, 

 particularly whale-oil soap and kerosene and crude 

 petroleum, both in emulsions and mechanical mixtures. 

 On the whole, however, the best and safest results are 

 found to follow the use of the sulphur-lime spray (see 

 page 97). Two applications are best, one in the fall 

 as soon as the leaves are off and another in the spring 

 before the buds open. As in most spraying opera- 

 tions, very thorough work is necessary, since it is 



