THE RED SCALE OF ORANGE. 55 



and for a general description of which I cannot do 

 better than quote Mr. Tryon, who says "It occurs 

 equally on trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit. Every 

 accessible spot on the bark of infested trees is at times 

 occupied by it, a complete incrustation being thus 

 formed. 



" Oranges, if the scale has settled upon them in any 

 quantity, after gathering become disgustingly black with 

 its dead and discoloured remains. Previous to their 

 ripening their natural bright-green colour gives place to 

 a pale yellow, their growth is retarded, they do not reach 

 their full size, and they may even fall from the tree. 

 When the leaves are attacked by them they exhibit con- 

 spicuous yellow-green spots, the centres of which are 

 occupied by the scale insects themselves, and either the 

 assimilating power of the foliage is much diminished, or 

 worse, the leaves are shed, and by both of these events is 

 the health of the tree considerably impaired. When on 

 the bark itself their presence is not quite so conspicuous, 

 owing to a certain harmony of colour being maintained, 

 but the injury which they occasion when in this situation 

 is none the less." 



The Eed Orange Scale then is one of the worst and 

 most troublesome of our imported pests, as it increases 

 with great rapidity, and spreads itself over large areas in 

 a short space of time. Any attempt at isolation, there- 

 fore, except it be done in a systematic and practical 

 manner, will most likely prove a failure. It is readily 

 carried from one orchard to another by means of grafts, 

 cuttings, and by birds, &c., also by the wholesale distri- 

 bution of infested fruit, which same may be seen exposed 

 for sale in the fruit shops in Melbourne and elsewhere, 

 and this without any attempt at concealment. The rapid 

 spread of this plague need not therefore be wondered at. 

 Unless some stringent measures are introduced for the 

 purpose of arresting this broadcast distribution, it is 

 greatly to be feared that our efforts to keep this pest in 

 subjection must either be greatly handicapped or rendered 

 comparatively futile. 



