SCALE INSECTS OF IMPORTANCE 34I 



Sometimes the acid spatters a little during the reaction, and this precaution 

 is to prevent injury either to the tree or to the tent. If the tent is already 

 over the tree, look to see that it is properly secured and all of the sod 

 cloth covered, except on the windward side where the chemicals are to 

 be inserted. Then take the cyanid, previously weighed out and placed 

 in a thin paper bag, reach under the tent, carefully drop it into the 

 acid and water and at once draw down the side of the tent and cover 

 the remainder of the sod cloth. The contents of the earthenware ves- 

 sel, after the tent has been removed, should be carefully buried near 

 the tree. Take special pains to see that none of it comes in contact with 

 a tent. Some preliminary figuring and a little experience will soon make 

 one quite expert in estimating the contents of a box tent above de- 

 scribed. Other forms of tents are in use, but the above is probably the 

 best for young trees, though it can not be handled well in a stiff breeze. 

 A bell-shaped tent with its lower edge attached to a large hoop is used 

 considerably in California, and this can be handled in treating small trees 

 without the aid of a mast. The sheet tent, which is nothing more than a 

 square of properly treated canvas of sufficient size, is also much used in 

 that state, specially on large trees. 



Fumigation of nursery stock. The mere possibiHty of the 

 introduction of the San Jose scale or some other insect pest should 

 be a sufficient reason for the careful fruit-grower to prefer fumigated 

 stock, and the advisability of this treatment in the case of trees 

 open to the slightest suspicion of harboring such an insect is con- 

 ceded by every careful fruit-grower and nurseryman. The methods 

 of doing this are essentially the same as those mentioned above for 

 orchard fumigation except that it is much more convenient to treat 

 nursery stock in a special building or room, and allowance must be 

 made for the more tender varieties. The essentials of a fumigating 

 chamber are that it must be gas-tight, easily closed and opened from 

 the outside, readily ventilated and so arranged that there will be no 

 difficulty in placing the chemicals where a practically uniform distribu- 

 tion of the gas will be insured. A slat floor, eight or more inches from 

 the ground, under which the gas may be generated, is a decided advan- 

 tage as it gives a more uniform distribution of the insecticide. The room 

 may be only a few feet square or large enough to contain a load of trees 

 on a wagon, according to the needs of the firm or individual. Small lots 

 of trees can be fumigated in a box, but as a rule this is not advisable. 

 The materials necessary to make a gas-tight house, as worked tnit by 



