1896.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 45 



The Cambridge nursery was then visited, and pear, peach 

 and apple trees were found infested with the scale, and 

 many of the worst-infested trees were dead. As no stock 

 had been added to this nursery for three years, these trees 

 must have been infested at least that length of time. I have 

 not been able to learn from what source the stock in £his 

 Cambridge nursery was obtained. 



On July 9 I received a twig of an apple tree from Mr. W. 

 W. Rawson, with the request to inform him what the matter 

 was with it. An examination showed that it was infested 

 with the San Jose scale. Further correspondence revealed 

 the fact that the twig came from an apple tree in the orchard 

 of Mr. E. E. Cole ; in the town of Scituate. Mr. Cole wrote 

 me that the orchard contained ninety trees that were set out 

 three years ago. It is situated in a protected spot, with 

 trees on three sides, and is within two miles of the ocean in 

 a direct line. He also wrote me that the trees were received 

 from Mr. Rawson, who informed me that he obtained most 

 of his nursery stock of that description from the Shady Hill 

 Nursery Company. 



It is therefore probable that the Shady Hill nurseries re- 

 ceived infested stock from some outside nursery, possibly in 

 New Jersey, and have unintentionally become a centre of 

 infection for orchards in the eastern part of this State. To 

 what extent this pest has become distributed through the. 

 State it is impossible to say, but that it is able to live and 

 destroy fruit trees in some if not in all parts of the State 

 seems evident. A complete account of this insect was pre- 

 pared and published with illustrations in the Massachusetts 

 Crop Report for August. 



The correspondence is steadily increasing, and many let- 

 ters about injurious insects are received from nearly every 

 part of the State. Most of these letters call for information 

 about such insects as are causing more or less damage, and 

 it is very rarely that we are called upon to give informa- 

 tion about insects that have merely excited the curiosity of 

 the sender. 



The elm-leaf beetle appears to be rapidly spreading in the 

 State, and we have been called upon frequently during the 

 year for information about this beetle. A bulletin will soon 



