THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



as the Rhizobius ventralis has been im- 

 ported from Australia and has done good 

 work in many orchards in the state. Olive 

 trees are also subject to the ravages of the 

 black scale, as well as some other varieties 

 of trees, especially if grown near the sea 

 coast say within ten to twenty miles, 



Mr. Elwood Cooper, of Santa Barbara 

 county, has used colonies of the Austra- 

 lian lady bird (the Rhizobius above men- 

 tioned) in his extensive olive orchard, with 

 great success and believes it a sovereign 



a remedy. He has read our last year's 

 notes on the treatment of pests as reprinted 

 by the Agricultural Bureau, and has con- 

 cluded that the treatment recommended 

 for peach aphis would be suitable, but be- 

 fore applying the bluestone -to the roots, 

 he wishes to know whether it would hurt 

 an evergreen? The precaution proves a 

 wise one. It is a mistake to call the scale 

 an aphis the insects are quite different. 

 But having misjudged the enemy, it was 

 quite natural to go astray with the treat- 

 ment. ''J. B." has not sent a specimen, 

 but the mention of a scale-like insect, as- 



ALFAFA FIELD ON CLARK COLONY LANDS NEAR DENVER. 



remedy for either the black or brown scale. 



It may seem a little strange, however, 

 that in view of the importation of this pest 

 destroyer from Australia the authorities 

 there recommend other and apparently 

 more expensive means to the same end. 

 Garden and Field, the official organ of 

 the Department of Agriculture of South 

 Australia, published at Adelaide, in reply 

 to a correspondent says: 



''J. B." says that his orange and lemon 

 trees are affected with a black smut and 

 brown ''scale aphis." an 1 wishes to know 



sociated with black smut on the leaves, al- 

 lows little doubt as to the pest being the 

 common brown scale which infests orange, 

 lemon, oleander, and other trees. It clus- 

 ters on the twigs and leaves, especially up 

 the mid-rib, and exudes a sticky, sweet 

 substance, of which the common "sugar" 

 ant is very fond On this exudation the 

 black "smutty" fungus grows. The reme- 

 dy is to kill the ?cale. and the fungus will 

 disappear from want of nourishment. We 

 have used both resin wash and kerosene 

 emulsion with complete success for this 

 pest. It is merely a question of conven- 

 ience in tuakingand using. The emulsion 



