1898.] SAN JOSE SCALE 243 



have not heard of anything of the kind being proposed, nor 

 have I seen any mention in our newspapers of preventive 

 measures being contemplated in regard to imports. My 

 own impression is that we are not likely to suffer from it. 

 With our island climate (as a general thing, and as especially 

 observed by Dr. C. V. Riley) the injurious insects of the 

 Continent of America rarely establish themselves here, 

 although ours adapt themselves to the American Continental 

 circumstances, and this Scale appears to be remarkably 

 susceptible to damp and cold. The Bulletin by Dr. John 

 B. Smith, Entomologist of the New Jersey Experimental 

 Station, published November 27, 1897, says, p. 6, "The 

 Scale does best with us in dry, warm weather. It does 

 not like dampness, nor shade, and will die out in a cold, 

 moist locality. Large trees with dense foliage are therefore 

 least troubled, arid a dense mass of vegetation shading the 

 ground completely will be infested only towards the tips of 

 the twigs or branches nearer the surface, where sunlight 

 and air are most abundant." I greatly hope, therefore, that 

 even if this injurious attack should come, that it will not 

 establish itself to a serious extent, as shade is a characteristic 

 of many of our orchards. 



Our chief trouble at present is an attack of eel-worms, 

 Tylenchus devastatrix, on red clover, Trifolium pratense, 

 causing what we call "Clover-stem sickness." I never 

 knew the attack so widely prevalent before. But I hope 

 that with the measures which I draw attention to in my 

 recent Annual Report we may do some good. 



March n, 1898. 



Relatively to the San Jose Scale, I find, from some infor- 

 mation received this morning, that Mr. R. Newstead, Curator 

 of the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, has lately attended by 

 request at the Board of Agriculture, and stated that this 

 infestation had not established itself in any way in this 

 country. Also that he had not heard of, nor had he seen 

 any instances of its presence, although he had made diligent 

 search for it at Liverpool, &c. He thinks the matter is a 

 "scare," and that the insect is not likely to establish itself 

 here. In this opinion (the document before me states) he 

 is supported by our Entomological Society. Mr. Newstead 

 is, I believe, excellently qualified to form an opinion on the 

 subject, as he is a practical Economic Entomologist, and he 

 has also made the Coccidce a subject of minute investigation. 

 This I should say was more important than the views of a 

 meeting of our Entomological Society, of whom few, if any 



