SECRETARY'S REPORT, 145 



aphis very generally attract attention by being more or less 

 curled or turned backward, and their surface, as well as that of 

 the twigs, frequently becomes blackened and dirty. Dr. Fitch, 

 of New York, in his invaluable report states that washing the 

 bark with a solution of sal soda, not only removes this filth, but 

 being absorbed by the sap, the tincture becomes unpalatable to 

 the aphides, and causes them to desert the tree. A writer of 

 some experience recommends syringing the trees with lye, or 

 soapsuds, which destroys all insects that it touches, but as many 

 are protected by the curled leaf from the action of these prepar- 

 ations, the bending down of the branches where practicable into 

 a tub of strong suds, is more certain in its effects. Rubbing 

 soft-soap about the trunk and limbs, two or three times during 

 the season, is approved by some. A small garden engine, or 

 even a cheaply constructed syringe that can be made by any 

 prentice tinman, is a convenient instrument, a tube, fifteen to 

 twenty inches in length, and two and a half in diameter, closed 

 with a perforated cap of tin at one end. The piston or plunger 

 can be whittled out in a few minutes, an old broom or hoe- 

 handle, wrapped with tow or rags, answering every purpose. 

 This simple machine will be found very useful in throwing 

 various solutions upon foliage that could not, otherwise, be 

 reached, and will last, with proper care, for years. 



On the bark of the apple, the pear, the plum, and the grape 

 we find, frequently, minute and singularly formed creatures not 

 so much resembling an insect as a scab or scurf, and so closely 

 adherent to the bark and resembling it in color as to appear like 

 a mere evolution of its cuticle. These little animals are called 

 Coccidcc, or scale insects, and are arranged in different genera or 

 groups according to their structure, habits and metamorphoses. 

 Although differing in external appearance so greatly from the 

 aphides of the roots and branches, they are yet of the same 

 class and derive their sustenance in the same manner from the 

 sap of the tree, being furnished with beaks or siphons of a pre- 

 cisely similar construction. The species inhabiting the apple, is 

 of the form of the muscle-shell, about one-tenth of an inch in 

 length, and of a brownish color. Their eggs are laid or rather 

 extruded beneath the body of the female, which then shrinks 

 up into the concave shell, and in death continues to protect and 

 shelter the future brood. They hatch about the last week 



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