78 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 



It was reported to me in the month of July that a great number of the maple trees 

 in this town were apparently dying. As Orillia is one grove of these trees, the appear- 

 ance of a pest was viewed by many of the inhabitants with great alarm. I examined a 

 good many trees. I supposed at first that the borers Glytus speciosus or Tremex Columba, 

 were the cause, but I could only account for the flagging energies of some of the limbs 

 from the fact that nearly all the trees showing distress were largely covered in placas 

 with a woolly louse (Schizoneura), Fig. 52, which very much resembled the alder louse. 

 I was not certain of the species, but I recommended kerosene emulsion, which I believe 

 finished them, as the complaint ceased. 



To a person who has always been imbued with a love of nature, to whom the war of 

 the elements, the peaceful starlight night, the songs of the birds, the growth of a plant, 

 the chirp of a cricket, the song of the Cicada, or the sight of an insect, alike send a thrill 

 of pleasure through his mind and bring back a flood of pleasant recollections, I say to 

 that person who has learned to love these things, it is almost impossible to understand 

 how it is that so few people seem to obtain any pleasure from studying nature. To many 

 there is no enjoyment but in business, and there are others who are always complaining 

 that they do not know what to do to kill time. Just fancy this with the book of nature 

 open before them and half, yes, nine-tenths, of its wonders unknown To those in busi- 

 ness who have very little time to spare (I myself am one of these), I would say that no 

 more pleasant relaxation can be found, when once the science of entomology, botany, or 

 their kindred sciences, is known sufficiently to interest one to further pursue it. I am 

 satisfied that if the study of these things was brought before the young in the proper way, 

 it would make the youth of this country more manly, more diligent in business, more 

 cultured and gentlemanly, and that the crime records would decrease correspondingly. 

 This may seem a rash statement, but I claim that any one who has learned to study and 

 love the works of nature will seldom do a deed of violence, when in tender years an 

 occupation is found with all the elements of amusement, free from the taint of vice. The 

 famous Dr. Johnson once said, when he heard of a man committing suicide: "He 

 would never have done so if he had known how to hem a pocket handkerchief," implying 

 that the want of an occupation induced the crime. And so likewise the study of entomo- 

 logy would keep the minds of those who take to it in pleasant occupation, which would 

 increase, instead of tailing as most other amusements do, as one by one the truths of 

 nature were revealed ; and I have every reason to believe that the interest would increase 

 until the senses are benumbed with age, and this cm be said of few earthly pleasures. 

 The lack of interest is surely in the want of the first elements of knowledge of these 

 sciences ; but I trust that now entomology, from an economic point of view, is being 

 studied, and the farmers and fruit growers of this country are awakening to the fact that 

 to hold their own with their neighbors who have studied entomology, they must do so too 

 — that ultimately the young will be taught it and the sciences of, entomology and botany 

 will form part of the curriculum of our public schools. 



THE SAN JOSE SCALE. 

 (Aspidiotus pemiciosus, Comstock.) 



By James Fletcher, Dominion Entomologist, Ottawa. 



In our annual jeport for 1894 there appeared a short article upon the San Jose' 

 scale. As there stated, the unexpected discovery in the Eastern United States and 

 British Columbia of this scourge of the Pacific coast orchards made it all important to 

 draw the attention of Ontario fruit growers to the subject, so that they might become 

 familiar with the appearance of the insect and be prepared to promptly adopt active 

 measures to eradicate it should it, as was thought more than probable, appear in our pro- 

 vince. During the same year a further article was also published in the Farmers' Advo- 

 cate, urging fruit growers to be on their guard against the introduction of the San Jose' 

 scale with nursery stock. 



