70 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE 



of crude carbolic acid. A little Paris green and lime will make the 

 mixture more valuable. Wrap the tree-trunks with paper in the 

 spring. Paint the trunks with strong whale oil soap wash; or 

 paint with good, so-called "tree paint" which is made up with 

 water, not oil. A very good wash for tree-trunks on larger branches 

 is the "government whitewash." The recipe is as follows: 



Government Whitewash. Slake half a bushel of quicklime 

 with boiling water, keeping it covered during the process. Strain 

 it and add a peck of salt, dissolved in warm water; three pounds 

 of ground rice put in boiling water and boiled to a thin paste ; half 

 a pound of Spanish whiting and a pound of clear glue, dissolved 

 in warm water; mix these together well, and let the mixture stand 

 for several days. Keep the wash thus prepared in a kettle or port- 

 able furnace; and when used, put it on as warm as possible, with 

 painters' or whitewash brushes. 



The San Jose Scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus Comstock). This 

 very destructive scale attacks all parts of the tree above the 

 ground. The scale is frequently seen on fruit or young twigs 

 accompanied by a red discoloration around each scale. It imparts 

 a grayish, roughened appearance to the bark when very abundant. 



Life History and Habits. This insect spends nearly all of its 

 life under the scale ; is active only as a young larva and as a mature 

 winged male. Both sexes hibernate when half grown under the 

 scale. Males reach maturity early in the spring, fertilize the 

 females, and disappear. Later, the latter give birth to living young. 

 There are probably four generations in a year in favorable localities. 

 The young larva, yellow in color, moves about to find a suitable 

 place to attach itself. When about to become stationary, the 

 scale is formed the insect becoming covered with it in two days. 

 The young scale is whitish, turning darker with age. The scale 

 of the female is convex, with a yellowish and shining nipple in the 

 center. The first moult occurs when the scale is twelve days old, 

 after which males and females take different form. The scale of 

 the male is smaller than that of the female and somewhat elon- 

 gated, the nipple being near one end. The females pass the second 

 moult when about twenty days old, becoming adult at the age of 

 thirty days (Fig. 93). 



This pest spreads quickly on nursery stock by blowing from 

 tree to tree, and is also carried upon the feet of birds and on the 

 bodies of large insects. The English sparrow has been recently 

 shown to be a prominent means of dispersal. 



