Mussel Scale nml Beetle Miles. 'j'j 



Natural Enemies. 



Scales luive iiuiiiy uatunil eueinit.'.s, ImL this siHicies un<l tluxse 

 that attack the currant iu tliis country are not mateiially lessened 

 by them. Anyone trusting to i)ai-asites to help the farmer in thi.s 

 resj)ect evidently is not acquainted with these jiests in our orchards. 

 Amongst the natural enemies biixls alcjne do any good. The Paridae 

 or Tits feed upon this scale, and a few other l)irds on the Tree- 

 creeper and Wryneck. Lady-I)irds and their larvae eat scale, but 

 none seem very partial to the Mussel scale in Great Britain. 

 Minute hymenopleiti — C/ittlcidufoc — also live as parasites ujkju 

 them, but seldom do any api)reciable good; in the tii-st instance 

 they occur too late in the attack to prevent the damage, and never 

 are sufficiently al)undant to check the pest for the following year. 

 Sound advice to fruit giowei-s is to go on washing and ignore the 

 iutinitesimal help given by these minute pai"asites. Also encourage 

 those usefid birds the Tits in orchard and jiardeu. 



TliE.VT.MENT. 



The trunks, etc., of all trees must be kept clean, i.e., fix^e fi-om 

 rough bark, moss an<l lichens. This can be done by washing in 

 winter with caustic alkali wash, which at the same time corrodes 

 and loosens the scales from the ti-ees. Trees badly infested should 

 also be sprayed in the early summer about the middle of June with 

 pai-aftin emulsion, two or three times, at intervals of a few days. 

 This kills numbers of the young and corrodes away to some e.xtent 

 any remaining scales. Whitewashing the trunks of the trees as far 

 as the forks of the boughs does some good and keeps the wood in a 

 healthy state. All young st<x'k should be treated to destroy the 

 scide Ijefore l)eing planted or soon after. The l>est methoil is fumi- 

 gation with hyili-ocyanic acid gas, the most valuable scale remedy. 



Oribatidae or Beetle Mites on Forest and Fruit 



Trees. 



The lieelle Mites are fre<piently sent by fruit-growei"s with 

 en<|uirips as t<i thoir eonDinv The r»*conls of tiicm on fon-'^f tnM's 

 are few 



Sixiciniens have l>een sent from tlie Director, Royal Botanic 

 (Janlens, and received by him Uxmi Mr. A. S. Birknell, of IlarcomlK;. 

 Su3.sex. which are reconled by him as damaging chestnut (horse) and 



