246 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1914 



FOR 35 CENTS 



The Garden and Farm Almanac 



Will Save You Dollars 



IT TELLS YOU HOW 



To recognize, combat and con- 

 quer the Insect Pests, Fungous Dis- 

 eases and Weeds that attack garden, 

 farm and orchard crops. 



To estimate the cost of farm 

 houses, barns, poultry sheds, the 

 water supply, the silo, and the de- 

 tailed operations of farm work 

 such as plowing, planting, harvest- 

 ing, etc. 



To choose the right book on any 

 phase of garden or farm activity. 



To estimate the amount of hay 

 in a stack according to the latest 

 Department of Agriculture meth- 

 ods. 



To plan your vegetable and 

 flower gardens, shrubbery border 

 and orchard. 



To diagnose and treat the com- 

 mon diseases of farm animals. 



To make whitewash for all pur- 

 poses. 



To know whether you get what 

 you pay for in buying ' ' pure seed. ' ' 



To make cloth waterproof. 



To make spray mixtures in 

 small, convenient quantities. 



To estimate the weight of cattle. 



To keep ahead of the garden 

 work month by month. 



I 



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G. M. 

 1-14 



The Revised 1914 Edition 

 Contains Features that 

 are Absolutely 

 New. Almost 200 

 Large Pages 

 Fully Illus- 

 trated. 



SSfcO 



Dear Sirs: 



Please send me 

 prepaid the 1914 

 Garden and Farm 

 Almanac for which I 

 enclose Thirty-five cents 



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19 14 



GARDEN AND FARM 



ALMANAC 



Typical Contents 

 (PartiaD 



Animal Diseases and Remedies 



Analysis of Soils 



Guide for the Best Annual Flowers 



Composition of Milk of Differ- 

 ent Breeds 



How to Build a Storage Cellar 



How to Make Cloth Waterproof 



Iceless Cold Storage 



How to Make and Use Concrete 



Breeds of Ducks 



Amount of Wire for a Fence 



Points on Feeding Your Cattle 



Measurement Table for Lumber 



Raising Pigs for Profit 



Cost of a Greenhouse 



Rations for a Horse 



How to Build an Ice House 



The Best Lawn Grasses 



First Aid to the Injured 



Average Period of Incubation 



Principles of Garden Planning 



Value of Hay as a Food 



Heating the Greenhouse 



DOUBLED AY, PAGE & CO. , Garden City, New York 



Conquering the San Jose Scale by 

 Parasites 



THE San Jose scale has been a serious pest in 

 most orchards ever since its introduction to 

 the eastern states a score of years ago. The only 

 method with which qrchardists have had to com- 

 bat it is caustic or smothering washes which are 

 disagreeable to apply, and now our Oregon friends 

 are beginning to make claims for a strain that in a 

 few years, will be resistant to the lime-sulphur 

 washes. Some of the larger orchardists have con- 

 sidered the San Jose scale to be a blessing in dis- 

 guise, for it is putting out of business the man who 

 is too indifferent to spray. 



But Nature has asserted herself, as she usually 

 does, and is now counterbalancing things by calling 

 upon some minute insect parasites to prey upon 

 the scale and destroy it. Orchards that were being 

 killed by the scale have now a chance to recuperate, 

 and nurseries, in which the scale was so bad that the 

 nursery inspectors would not give them a "clean bill 

 of health," can now ship trees and shrubs because 

 little or no live scale can be found. 



It is no new discovery to science, for in 1906 the 

 Bureau of Entomology published a long bulletin on 

 the scale in which eight parasites were mentioned; 

 and the late Prof. Johnson was quoted as claiming 

 that a small area of Maryland had at least been 

 temporarily rid of the scale. But it is in Penn- 

 sylvania that the big clean up is now taking place. 

 For nearly three years Prof. H. A. Surface, State 

 Zoologist, has been making observations, and his 

 inspectors have been reporting the work of para- 

 sites; but it has been only during the last year or so 

 that the scale has been rapidly succumbing. With 

 plenty of material to work upon the parasite has 

 stealthily gained in strength, and it is now doing 

 effective work in at least one-third of this state. 



Where did the parasites come from? One species 

 has been known for at least fifty years, and has been 

 reported from various parts of the United States 

 working on the oyster shell scale, and it has also 

 been bred from the eggs of the tent caterpillar. 

 Another species, and a far more common one in the 

 material bred by Prof. Surface, was found and des- 

 cribed comparatively recently by Dr. L. O. Howard 

 of Washington. He found it working on the scale 

 on the citrus fruits. Others of lesser importance 

 have been found, and there have also been bred 

 what are supposed to be secondary parasites — 

 parasites of the parasites. 



Because these helpful little insect cannibals are 

 abroad is no reason why the man with fruit trees 

 should throw away his spraying pump, or cease to 

 boil lime-sulphur wash. That work should con- 

 tinue, giving the trees a dormant spray, unless the 

 owner finds that the scale in his orchard or in his 

 vicinity is full of holes. These parasites live inside 

 the San Jose scale and when they have gone through 

 the various stages necessary to become adults, 

 they eat their way out leaving a very small hole 

 which indicates that they have been busy con- 

 suming the scale. 



In addition to these parasites the lady beetles 

 feed more or less upon the young scales before they 

 have protected themselves with their waxy scales. 

 There is also a fungous disease which destroys some 

 scale, but neither of these agencies has as yet ap- 

 peared to be present in sufficient quantity to lessen 

 the scale to a perceptible degree. 



Apparently, as far as Prof. Surface has observed 

 at the present time, the spraying with lime-sulphur 

 wash does not kill the parasite so that if it is work- 

 ing in your orchard you need have no fear of des- 

 troying the microscopic friends. 



These parasites can be spread easily by artificial 

 means. All that is necessary is to take a branch 

 from some tree known to have the parasites work- 

 ing in the scale and transfer it to infested territory. 

 But do not be disappointed if the parasites do not 

 clean up the orchard in a few weeks. It will take 

 some time for them to become numerous enough in 

 a new community to do effective work. In the 

 meantime spray with lime-sulphur wash. Pieces 

 of wood on which there are San Jose scale infested 

 with parasites can be obtained from Prof. H. A. 

 Surface at Harrisburg, Pa., by sending ten cents to 

 pay for the postage and the mailing tube in which 

 to transport it. 



Pennsylvania. Parker Thayer Barnes. 



The Readers' Service will gladly furnish information about Retail Shops 



