EXPLORATIONS IN JAPAN. 11 



Economic Entomologists in 1899/' showing that at best the evidence 

 left the question open. That this scale insect probabl}^ had its original 

 home in China or Japan seemed, however, to be pretty conclusively 

 indicated b}^ the process of exclusion of other countries. Mr. 

 Koebele's investigations of the Asiatic tropical regions and Australia 

 and New Zealand had been fairly thoro, yet without finding it on native 

 plants, and, furthermore, it was not known to occur in South Africa. 

 The evidence pointing toward Japan and China was further empha- 

 sized b}^ the fact that the San Jose scale is, by its relationship and dis- 

 tribution, an insect of the temperate regions rather than of the Tropics. 



EXPLORATIONS IN EASTERN ASIA. 



With the hope of settling the disputed point of the origin of the 

 San Jose scale, and, if the native home of the species were discovered, 

 to stud}^, collect, and import beneficial insects to control this pest in 

 America, the writer, in 1901-2, made a trip of exploration in Japan, 

 China, and other Eastern countries, lasting over a 3^ear. The accom- 

 panying map (PL II) illustrates the regions explored. Six months 

 were devoted to a very thoro exploration of the different islands of 

 the Japanese Empire, and three months to China, with shorter periods 

 in other regions. The explorations in China and Japan are the only 

 ones which bear especially on the San Jose scale problem. 



EXPLORATIONS IN JAPAN. 



During the time spent in Japan, from April to September, 1901, 

 the writer visited some f ortj^-two provinces, and explored all the prin- 

 cipal islands, representing a stretch in latitude the equivalent of from 

 northern Maine to Florida. Altogether these explorations enabled 

 him to make a pretty correct judgment on the San Jose scale problem 

 in Japan. Japan is not especiall}^ a horticultural country. Her com- 

 paratively enormous population of 46,000,000 compels the growth of 

 cereals and other necessities of life wherever possible. Yery little 

 land, therefore, is devoted to fruit raising, and fruits are considered 

 as luxuries. Nevertheless, practically every dwelling house in Japan 

 has a little door\ ard or kitchen garden in which are single examples 

 of cherry, plum, peach, persimmon, and other trees. Furthermore, 

 the roadwa}' s and temple grounds and streets are lined with cherry 

 and plum trees, planted for bloom and ornament and not for fruit. 

 There are orchard districts in Japan of limited extent. In northern 

 and central Japan there are a few peach orchards and a few orchards 

 of native pears, and in southern Japan small orchards of orange, 

 pomelo, walnut, and other fruits. In old Japan the chief deciduous 

 fruit is a native pear grown in small patches of from a fraction of an 



«See Bui. No. 20, new series, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 36-39, 1899. 



