36 



lor a long time been recognized as bne of the chief offenders in sending 

 out infested trees, yet many of our nurserymen annually risk the safety 

 of their nurseries by trading with this firm. The stigma of selling in- 

 fested stock comes upon the one who makes the final sale, and in deal- 

 ing with disreputable firms the nurseryman takes the chance of being 

 classed with them. 



2. The " Refuse " Garden. — In some of the nurseries which the writer 

 has visited he has found a certain area of land set apart and dedicated to 

 the use of refuse stock. Here are assembled the jjariahs of the nursery 

 world. Here dwarfed, misshapen and diseased trees are set out to live 

 or die, as the case may be. Here all kinds of nursery pests flourish un- 

 restricted, and from such a centre they spread out and infest the nursery. 

 Here, also, tree peddlers and bargain hunters find and obtain their banjdins 

 in trees. In one case coming mider the writer's personal observation such 

 a^refuse garden contained the " culls " and outcasts of three abandoned 

 nurseries, as well as the refuse stock of four or five years' accumulation 

 from a large active nursery. Out of about a thousand trees, over one- 

 half were badly infested with the San Jose scale. Such a pest spot in a 

 nursery is a menace to all stock standing on the groimds. 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 destroy at once all trees found to be sickly or dis- 

 eased." In view of the frequent occurrence of the San Jose scale on 

 such stock, the wisdom of this policy is evident. 



3. The A7innal InsiiecUon. — 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 diffi- 

 cult 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 expected 

 from the entomologist, since no one can positively declare a nursery to 

 be free from this insect. When we consider that several scales might 

 be concealed beneath a single bud, the difficulty in making such a posi- 

 tive statement is evident The entomologist, however, should be able 

 to detect any well-defined infestation, and, by advising the use of })roper 

 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 reme- 

 dies At the present time we believe thorough fumigation to be the 

 great safeguard against the introduction and dissemination of the scale. 

 Experiments by Professors Alwood and Johnson, as well as by Dr. 

 Howard and others, have shown the possibility of destroying the scale 

 by treatment 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 with a knowledge of the facts involved should be willing to 

 pay a slightly higher price for fumigated stock, and the writer is of the 

 opinion that the time is not far distant when fumigated trees will be at 

 a premium. Certainly the nurseryman who destroys all his infested 

 and suspected stock and then fumigates all the trees bought and sold 

 has discharged his full duty to the public. 



Suggestions to Purchasers. 



One can conceive of but few greater calamities that might befall a 

 farmer than to have his trees become infested with the San Jose scale. 

 The insect is most obscure and its attack most insidious ; at the same 



