126 ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



cold weather. Mulching around a tree is an at- 

 tractive covert from which they start forth, when the 

 sun begins to shine warmly, to the nearest tender 

 branch. This has caused others to conclude that 

 mulching was the cause of die-back. 



There is another form of this disease, arising from 

 an entirely different cause, to be noticed in the next 

 chapter. As no natural enemies of these insects are 

 known, watchfulness on the part of the orange 

 grower is alone to be relied upon for their destruc- 

 tion. They should be caught by hand or in a net 

 and killed. The insect last described is very apt 

 to conceal itself under litter during the \vinter. 

 Pieces of bark, boards, logs, stumps, litter of every 

 kind offer them shelter. In early spring when the 

 weather is cold everything of the kind in the vicin- 

 ity of the orange grove infested should be burned. 

 The insect is very fond of sucking the cow-pea, 

 and lays its eggs near its field of operation, often 

 on the under side of the leaf of the plant on which 

 it feeds. If the orange grower will grow cow-peas 

 in his grove and bury them in trenches or holes 

 dug at the extremity of the orange roots, a few days 

 after these insects have commenced to feed upon 

 the peas, he can destroy them at a most important 

 time. Both these plans were adopted by the 

 writer during the present year, and his grove is now 

 quite clear of this pest. 



When trees have been damaged seriously by 

 these insects the knife and saw must be freely used. 



