148 



TWENTY-NINTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVEN'TION. 



from County Horticultural Commissioners, orchardists, and others, 

 showing that the good work still continues. 



In a letter from Horticultural Commissioner J. W. Jeffrey, of Los 

 Angeles, under date of September 24th, he writes: " This part of the com- 

 monwealth is being overrun by the Scutellista cyanea. For a while we got 

 all our supplies from the pepper trees at Pasadena, but to-day we have 

 transferred our base to the sunflowers of Hollywood. You remember 

 examining the grove of Mr. Harrington at Hollywood and that you did 

 not find any evidence of the fly. Mr. Harrington has just come in with a 

 lot of sunflower stalks literally alive with black scale. It is almost im- 

 possible to find a scale that has not been parasitized. On our tables the 

 grubs are rolling around in great profusion. We never before had the 

 multitude of grubs that are found on this lot of stalks. You sent Mr. 

 Payne, of Monrovia, a lot of Scutellista last February, and Mr. Strong 

 was out there last week to examine the trees and found the flies circu- 

 lating among the branches all over Monrovia. The telephone company 

 had been cutting into the tops of the trees with their usual liberality, 

 and the thrifty farmers were hauling away every vestige of the cuttings 

 and placing them in their orchards, and so the story goes. Hoping 

 the good work may continue until the last insect foe has expired and 

 that the black scale is now doomed." 



Under date of September 12, 1903, Mr. W. E. Hughes, of Los Angeles, 

 sent the following: "I write to report to you the encouraging work 

 done by the Scutellista in my orchard and elsewhere. They seem to 

 be in the orchard by the millions. I have sent them in almost every 

 direction. These, with the ones sent out by the County Board of 

 Horticulture, as well as those sent from your office, ought to put this 

 section of California in pretty good shape next season." Mr. Hughes 

 cites the good work done in the extensive orange and lemon groves of 

 Mr. A. B. and A. Scott Chapman of San Gabriel. 



Mr. F. Austin, Horticultural Commissioner of Escondido, San Diego 

 County, and Dr. W. B. Wall, of Santa Ana, Orange County, have been 

 especially successful with this parasite. 



I have referred to some of our friendly insects in previous papers, 

 and the only excuse I now give for taking up your valuable time is 

 because of a remark, or question, asked by one of our best entomologists 

 some time ago at a meeting of fruit-growers and farmers. The question 

 was in substance: "Do you know of any benefit derived from beneficial 

 insects outside of the Vedalia cardinalisf^^ Evidently the fruit-growers 

 present at that meeting had forgotten some of their past experiences 

 with fruit-tree pests, for no response was made. State Commissioner 

 of Horticulture Ellwood Cooper is still making determined efforts to 

 introduce other friendly insects that will be of incalculable value to 

 the fruit-growers of California. 



