BLACKBERRY PESTS—BLOOMING PERIOD OF TREE FRUITS 
Spray with Paris gieen, arsenate of 
lead or, if the fruit has formed, with 
hellebore. 
For formulae see Sprays 
Sctrry Scack See under Apple 
SLBD-LIKE Galt. See Pithy Gall. this 
section. 
Snowy Tree Cricket 
Oecanthus niveus DeGeer 
General Appearance 
The adult insects are slightly more 
than half an inch long and light vellow 
or greenish in color. The antenn@ are 
very long and hair-like. There is one 
black dot on the face beneath each an- 
tenna. The females appear narrow, be- 
cause the wings are folded along the 
sides and over the backs, while in the 
males they are spread out flatly on the 
back. The black-tipped ovipositor also 
helps to distinguish the female. The eggs 
are about one-eighth of an inch long, 
slender, slightly curved and white. They 
are inserted in the stems of the host. 
Life History 
The eggs are placed singly in the 
canes or twigs in the autumn and remain 
dormant during the winter. The first 
warm spring days cause them to hatch 
and the young, wingless, green crickets 
begin feeding upon plant lice or other 
soft-bodied insects. Throughout its en- 
tire life, from the time it leaves the egg 
until egg-laying commences in the fall the 
insect is working for the benefit of the 
farmer. By autumn all forms are mature 
and egg-laying begins, the adults disap- 
pearing soon afterwards. 
Food and Host Plants 
The damage done by the snowy tree- 
cricket is due almost entirely to its 
method of puncturing the small stems 
and canes in egg-laying. It often hap- 
pens that so many eggs are placed in the 
canes as to cause considerable loss. Rasp- 
berries and blackberries receive the most 
injury, though young deciduous fruit 
nursery stock is also often severely in- 
jured. 
The feeding habits of this species 
places it among the beneficial insects and 
partially offset the damage done in de- 
653 
positing the eggs. The young and old 
alike feed upon sott-bodied insects, prin- 
cipally plant lice, and due to their rav- 
enous appetites they are able to consume 
great numbers of other injurious pests. 
Control 
The method of eliminating subsequent 
broods and attacks consists in cutting 
out all canes showing the characteristic 
signs of having been punctured for ege- 
laying. It has been said by many re- 
liable authorities that the good done by 
the snowy tree cricket in destroying in- 
jurious plant lice and other soft-bodied 
insects more than recompenses the farm- 
er for the harm done and that only in 
rare cases should the eggs be destroyed, 
even after the injured canes or branches 
have been removed. 
E. O. Essie, 
Sacramento, Cal. 
TARNISHED Prant Buc. See Strawberry. 
TREE CrICKET. See Snowy Tree Cricket, 
this section. 
Blooming Period of Tree Fruits 
The value of bloom charts and their 
bearing on the question of mixed plant- 
ing is appreciated by a large number of 
our best fruit growers, but a brief dis- 
cussion of the subject may be of value. 
Causes of Unfruitiulness 
Probably the most frequent questions 
asked by orchardists relate to the bar- 
renness of orchards and the causes of 
unfruitfulness. 
There are many conditions which pre- 
vent a normal development of bloom and 
set of fruit. The following may be enu- 
merated: 
Rapid Wood Growth 
It has been often observed that trees 
making very rapid wood growth fail to 
bear heavy crops of fruit. This is well 
illustrated in the case of young trees 
which fail to bear during the first years 
of their growth. The reason for this is 
not well understood, but it is fully estab- 
lished that the growth and reproductive 
forces are in a measure alternative and 
that whatever favors the one will retard 
