312 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



with the San Jose scale. Such a pest spot in a nursery is a 

 menace to all stock standing on the grounds. To the owner 

 it also offers a temptation to sell inferior trees. The oldest 

 nurseryman in Massachusetts in conversation on this point 

 once told the writer that in his experience, extending over 

 nearly fifty years, he had found it "the best policy to de- 

 stroy at once all trees found to be sickly or diseased." In 

 view of the frequent occurrence of the San Jose scale on such 

 stock, the wisdom of this policy is evident. 



3. The Annual Inspection. — The San Jose scale is most 

 difficult of detection when present in small numbers. When 

 it is abundant in a nursery or in an orchard, the limits of the 

 infestation are equally difficult of definition. This work is 

 one that calls for the services of the entomologist, and the 

 careful inspection of the trees by such an expert should give 

 the grower a fairly accurate idea of the condition of the stock 

 as regards the San Jose scale. Too much should not be ex- 

 pected from the entomologist, since no one can positively 

 declare a nursery to be free from this insect. When we con- 

 sider that several scales might be concealed beneath a single 

 bud, the difficulty in making such a positive statement is evi- 

 dent. The entomologist, however should be able to detect 

 any well-defined infestation, and, by advising the use of 

 proper remedies, aid the owner in stamping out incipient 

 colonies of the insect. This examination can be made to the 

 best advantage during the season when the trees are bare. 

 The trees may be examined either before or after " heeling 

 in." 



4. Fumigation. — This has been described under the head 

 of remedies. At the present time we believe thorough fumi- 

 gation to be the great safeguard against the introduction and 

 dissemination of the scale. Experiments by Professors Al- 

 wood and Johnson, as well as by Dr. Howard and others, 

 have shown the possibility of destroying the scale by treat- 

 ment with hydrocyanic acid gas. The cost of this treatment 

 is but a small premium to pay for the insurance of the stock 

 thus treated. Any one w r ith a knowledge of the facts in- 

 volved should be willing to pay a slightly higher price for 

 fumigated stock, and the writer is of the opinion that the 



