REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I912 73 



the probability of its being carried in soil with young trees, greatly 

 favors the dissemination of the pest and will undoubtedly result 

 shortly in its general distribution, even if it has not already become 

 established in most of the more important fruit-growing regions. 



Preventive measures. An examination of conditions in the 

 orchard of Mr William Albright near New Baltimore resulted in 

 our learning that several years before, this pear orchard had been 

 affected in a similar manner, and that the injury at that time, as 

 well as that of last spring, occurred during seasons when the orchard 

 had not been cultivated early in the spring. An examination of in- 

 fested orchards at Coeymans Hollow, at Germantown and at Hudson 

 showed that without exception the injury occurred on a heavy soil 

 where early and thorough cultivation was presumably difficult or 

 impossible. The pear thrips appears to be absent from orchards 

 on the lighter, sandy soil of Kinderhook. It may be only a co- 

 incidence, yet the fact that this delicate insect winters in the soil 

 and has been in at least one instance seriously injurious to orchards 

 which were not cultivated till late, suggests that in early cultivafion, 

 where practical, we may find a feasible method of preventing injury 

 and avoid the relative costly repeated sprayings necessary where 

 the insect is numerous. 



Remedial measures. The appearance of hosts of thrips in the 

 early spring and their rapid work upon the developing leaves and 

 fruit makes promptness an essential in the control of the pest. Ex- 

 perience has shown that the thrips, when abundant, may practically 

 destroy a crop in a few days and, furthermore, that most of those 

 which can be reached by a spray succumb readily to the use of a 

 tobacco extract such as black leaf 40 employed at the rate of ^ pint 

 to 100 gallons of water to which was added 2 pounds of soap. Mr 

 William Albright sprayed with this solution about 11.30 in the 

 morning, shortly before it began to rain. It rained until about 

 2 p. m., and an examination thereafter showed numerous dead 

 or dying thrips. The best results will be secured when this insecti- 

 cide is applied as a coarse forcible spray, the nozzles being adjusted 

 so as to throw the materi-al down into the clusters of leaves and 

 blossom l)uds. In the case of bad infestations, namely, where 10 

 to 15 thrips may be found in a single blossom cluster, a second 

 spraying may be necessary the following day and a third possibly 

 after the petals drop, for the purpose of destroying the young before 

 they desert the trees and enter the soil. 



