304 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Oct. 9, 1897. On a single badly infested peach tree there 

 were two representatives of one species* and eight of an- 

 other, f all feeding on the young scales. 



Remedies. 

 The degree of the infestation and the location and age of 

 the infested stock are among the chief considerations affect- 

 ing the nature of the remedies to be used. Aside from the 

 matter of fumigation, which will be detailed later, the same 

 remedies are equally applicable to the orchard and the 

 nursery. 



1. Burning. — In treating orchard or nursery stock 

 infested with the San Jose scale, the destruction of the trees, 

 root and branch, by fire, will in the end yield the most satis- 

 factory results. Financial or sentimental considerations may 

 sometimes induce the owner to employ less heroic measures, 

 and remedies for use in such cases are described later. In 

 preparing the trees for burning, it is necessary to dig rather 

 than cut them. This is essential because the scales frequently 

 mass on the bark below the surface of the ground, and, shel- 

 tered in the cavity made by the swaying trunk, multiply 

 undisturbed. Professor Webster has noticed that shoots 

 sprouting from such stumps are usually infested, thus show- 

 ing the necessity of destroying the stumps as well as the 

 trunk and branches. As a measure of safety, it is necessary 

 to burn not only the infested trees but also those adjacent. 

 Where infested stock has been grown for a season or more 

 in proximity to other trees it will almost invariably be found 

 that the insect has spread to some distance beyond its original 

 confines. Aside from the greater degree of safety secured, 

 the destruction of suspicious stock will save the time and 

 labor that must otherwise be spent in watching for the 

 development of the scale on these trees, and in combating it 

 should it appear. In all cases where the infestation is of 

 recent date and limited in extent, the use of fire is the only 

 measure that should be adopted. 



2. Whale-oil Soap. — The value of this substance as a 

 remedy for the San Jose scale was brought to public atten- 



* Adalia bipunctata. f Chilocorus bivulnerus. 



