SCALE-INSECTS. 



method. Here, again, it is desired not only to kill the insects 

 themselves, but also to devitalize the eggs ; but in this case the 

 work is much harder, for the eggs are especially difficult to 

 reach. Still, there is this advantage : that in dealing with ever- 

 greens the season of the year need not be specially studied, and, 

 in default of touching the eggs, one may get at the young larvae. 

 The remedy is again a fluid, but it must be applied in the form 

 of spray. Coccids are sometimes found on the upper surfaces of 

 leaves, but as a rule they affect the lower sides. This, of 

 course, renders it much more difficult to get at them ; and the 

 ordinary rose of a garden syringe would not, as a general thing, 

 distribute the fluid in a sufficiently-fine form. The finer the 

 spray and the more it is forced into every corner and nook of 

 the plant the better. Various force-pumps and spray-throwers 

 have been invented for this purpose in the United States ; but 

 probably tree-growers in this country need only procure the 

 finest possible rose for their syringes, and use them in the 

 ordinary way. The fluid should be thrown as thoroughly as 

 possible on all parts of the plant, every care being taken to 

 direct it most fully against the under sides of the leaves. 



The work, then, to be done is in itself simple enough. A 

 destructive fluid must be selected and applied according to the 

 character of the insect and its position on the tree. For covered 

 or naked insects on the bark, apply it with a hard, stiff brush ; 

 for covered or naked insects on the leaves, apply it in the form 

 of the finest spray thoroughly forced as much as possible into 

 every nook and cranny, and especially against the under side of 

 the leaves. 



The question, " What is the best fluid to use ? " is more 

 complicated. Many answers have been given to it : many fluids 

 have been strongly recommended by different people. It must 

 be well remembered that, as stated above, a sure and sovereign 

 remedy has yet to be discovered, and failure may attend even 

 the best suggested at present. Bearing this in mind, tree- 

 growers will find in the following list the result of the experience 

 of a number of observers, which may serve as a useful guide. 

 It does not profess to be more than a summary, compiled from 

 the researches of entomologists such as Mr. Comstock, Professor 

 Uiley, Mr. Hubbard ; from suggestions by gardeners and others, 

 embodied in various parliamentary and private documents ; and 

 from actual observation and experiment in this country : but it 



