146 ORCHARD INSECTS 



the twig, the inner bark, which is normally green, will be found 

 to be stained red. 



Eemedies. In fighting this insect the two standard remedies, 

 at the present time, are the lime-sulfur washes and the miscible, 

 or so-called "soluble," oils, which are fully described in 

 Chapter XIV. Many other things are used, and doubtless 

 new remedies will be constantly put upon the market, but these 

 two have stood the test of time and seem likely to stand it for 

 some time to come. It is usually not possible to keep the scale 

 entirely under control without giving two sprayings per year. 

 Not being able to decide which of the above remedies is the 

 better, the writer has developed the plan of using oil in the 

 autumn, as soon as the leaves are off the trees, and lime-sulfur 

 in the spring just before the buds break. The bulk of the 

 insects are thus killed by the autumn treatment while many 

 of them are young and less resistant, and one gets the advantage 

 of the " creeping " of the oil. Also the operation is less dis- 

 agreeable, which is worth considering. And lastly, the tree 

 does not have to exhaust itself by supporting all these insects 

 over winter. Then by using the lime-sulfur in the spring, the 

 orchardist not only kills what scales were left but also gets the 

 advantage of the fungicidal effect of the wash. 



Thorough Spraying. The one fundamental thing in the ap- 

 plication of insecticides for scale is thoroughness. Keep everlast- 

 ingly after the men who are doing the work and insist on their 

 reaching every part of the trees. This is more important with 

 scale than with any other insect, though it is always of im- 

 portance. Take the codling moth for example. Suppose the 

 orchardist sprays only half of the apples he has protected those, 

 at least in a section like New England where there is but one 

 brood. But if he is going to hit only half of the apples in fighting 

 scale, he might better save his time and money, and go to a ball 

 game, for both will be absolutely thrown away on this spraying. 

 The scales will continue to breed on the unsprayed areas and 

 will soon reinfest the whole tree. 



Perhaps a little experience may be worth relating here, as it 

 serves to show just where a grower is likely to get into trouble. 



