1899] ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 55 



THE NATIVE HOME OF THE SAN JOSE SCALE. 



By F. M. Webster, Wooster, 0. 



In the July, 1898, number of the Canadian Entomologist, I published a short dis- 

 cussion on this subject, giving the results of some, then recent, examinations of nursery 

 stock, coming directly from Japan. I there also referred to a short note by Prof. T.D.A. 

 Cockerell, in Entomological News, Vol 9, pages 95 and 96, to the effect that Mr. Alex- 

 ander Craw, Quarantine officer at San Francisco, California, had two or three times found 

 this insect on trees from Japan, and notably on a plum tree that arrived Jan. 25th, 

 1898. After this note of mine had been published, Mr. F. A. Sirine, one of the entomolo- 

 gists of the New York Experiment Station, located at Jamaica, N.Y., wrote me that 

 there was some pretty good evidence in his possession indicating that. the San Jose* Scale 

 had been established on Long Island a much greater length of time thsn was supposed \ 

 that its occurrence there possibly antedated its appearance in New Jersey. When I pre- 

 pared my paper for the 1898 meeting of the Entomological Society of Ontario, entitled 

 " Some International Problems in Applied Entomology," and, on again going over my 

 notes, it appeared to me that, with the amount of material in my possession and its 

 appearance, I had sufficient evidence not only to verify all that had been stated or 

 written, but that I had almost the conclusive evidence wanted to prove that Japan wag 

 the original home of the scale, and that it was, as with the Gypsy moth, being kept 

 reduced and in subjection by its natural enemies. I did not, at the time, have in my 

 possession a paper published in the June, 1898, Massachusetts Crop Eeport by Mr. A. H, 

 Kirkland, in which he makes the following statements : 



" While it is generally conceded that 1887 marks the date of the first importation of 

 the scale to the east, a case has recently comp to the writer's attention that would indicate 

 the possibility of the occurrence of the San Jos£ Scale in a Long Island nursery at a date 

 somewhat earlier than that of the New Jersey infestation, and possibly as a result of the 

 direct importation of trees from Japan. The facts are these : 



In the vicinity of Boston there is an educational institution where particular atten- 

 tion is given to the study of trees and shrubs. On the grounds of this institution, there 

 is a colony of the San Jose Scale which is confined in great measure to a plot of perhaps 

 thirty Japanese quince bushes. These bushes, according to the testimony of those in 

 charge of the grounds, "have been infested for many years." Careful records of all trees 

 planted are kept by the authorities of the institution, and in this case the records show 

 that the bushes in question were purchased from threa sources : the firm of James 

 Veitch & Sons, London, England, in 1881 ; Louis Spath, Rixdorf, Berlin, Germany, in 

 1888 ; and the Parsons & Sons Company, Flushing, Long Island, in 1884. The greater 

 part of the bushes were obtained from the latter source, and these are infested to the 

 greatest extent, although the scale occurs on all of them. The infestation of this nursery 

 for many years past is a matter of common knowledge among entomologists and nursery, 

 men ; also the fact that this nursery has paid especial attention to the importation and 

 distribution of Japanese stock. Unfortunately, all these Japanese quinces -were grown 

 for one season in a very compact plot and their infestation is so general that it is im- 

 possible to decide which were the ones originally infested. From an inspection of the 

 grounds, it is evident that these bushes are the centre of infestation m this colony ; and, 

 unless it is shown that the English and German nurseries are infested, of which there is 

 no evidence at present, the natural inference is that the Long Island nursery is the source 

 from which the infested stock was obtained, thus antedating the New Jersey occurrence 

 by about three years. Again, the conclusion that the Long Island stock was the source 

 of the scale at this particular locality may be placed the length of time elapsing since its 

 purchase, — some fourteen years. The time required for the killing of trees by the scale 

 is placed by Messrs. Howard and Marlatt at from two to three years. In the south, 

 where the active season of the insect is longer than it is here, and the warmer climate 

 more favorable to its multiplication, undoubtedly this may be the case. It is also prob« 



