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experiments which had been instituted by Mr. Hedges had been unsuc- 
cessful ; that the insect affected pear, peach, plurn, apple, currant, rose, 
quince, gooseberry and raspberry, and that it must have been intro- 
duced several years previously, presumably upon nursery stock, and 
probably (in the light of what we have more recently ascertained) upon 
currants purchased from a ]Sew Jersey firm. 
Inasmuch as the insect was fouud to be so limited, and to occur upon 
such a comparatively small number of trees, and they of small size, it 
was decided to postpone treatment until the early spring of 1894. 
In order to make a single treatment absolutely effective, tents for fumi- 
gating were constructed, and Mr. Coquillett, who was already expe- 
rienced in the application of the gas process, was sent to Charlottes- 
ville early in March to conduct the operation. In the meantime Prof. 
Eiley had consulted personally with the board of agriculture of the 
State, and an arrangement had been made to conduct the operation 
conjointly, as to the expense, the State Board furnishing the labor, 
and the Department of Agriculture furnishing the apparatus and Mr. 
Ooquillett's services as overseer. The tents were constructed of eight- 
ounce duck, and were made in the form of an octagonal sheet. Two of 
them measured 44 feet in diameter, and two 28 feet. They were oiled 
with boiled linseed oil. On trees of six feet and under the tents were 
placed over by hand; on larger trees they were hauled over by means 
of a single upright post with a pulley arrangement. The operation 
was unique in the fact that, for the first time, the tents were to be put 
over leafless trees, and it was expected that some trouble would result 
from the breakage of the limbs; but with the exception of a few large 
pear trees, the branches of which were somewhat rigid and brittle, 
very little trouble was experienced. Each tree was fumigated for half 
an hour with hydrocyanic acid gas, made in the usual way. The trees 
were in a semidormant state, although some of them had put forth a 
few leaves, and a few peach trees were in full blossom, but none of the 
trees were injured by the gas. So far as I am at present informed, all 
the scale insects were destroyed. 
During March, 1894, the proprietor of a large peach orchard at Eiver- 
side, Charles County, Md., brought to the office peach twigs covered 
with the pernicious scale. Prof. Piley was in the West Indies at the 
time, and I immediately sent an assistant, Mr. Marlatt, to visit the 
orchard. It was found that the farm is situated on the river front, and 
comprises about 288 acres, of which 20 are planted to orchard. In the 
orchard are 2,000 peach trees, with 250 apple trees intermixed with 
them. The older portion of the orchard was planted in 1882, in a strip 
along the river front. In the fall of 1887, 500 peach trees were planted 
on the western side of this strip, separated from it only by a low hedge. 
This stock was obtained from a £3ew Jersey nursery, and it is believed 
that upon it the scale was introduced. Later (1891) a younger orchard 
was planted still farther on the west and adjoining the 1887 orchard. 
