168 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS f CONVENTION. 



and required from him, let me also state that we have about forty nurs- 

 eries and salesyards, with at least twenty of them controlled by 

 Japanese, who are decidedly opposed to any effective means to clean 

 their premises of scale pests. With these conditions existing, a certifi- 

 cate stating a shipment of plants is believed to be clean, and a lonesome 

 mealy bug in the cavities of the top of a dracena crawls up into view, 

 a specimen of red scale on the under side of a camphor tree overlooked, 

 the development of some eulecariium hidden under a fern leaf is made 

 manifest in transit or afterwards, a howl at once goes up against his 

 unfortunate head by both customer and inspector at point of des- 

 tination. 



A. T. Garey. 



ERADICATION OF THE MEALY BUG IN THE CITRUS ORCHARD. 



During the last ten to fifteen years the mealy bug has steadily gained 

 in numbers and extent of territory in the citrus groves, and especially 

 in the Navel oranges. "While the spread is slow, it seems sure, as all 

 the ordinary means used to check its progress have signally failed. 

 There are many sprays that will kill both the mealy bugs and their eggs, 

 but all sprays that use water for the greater part of the mixture do not 

 readily penetrate the mass of cottony fuzz of the old ones and the eggs 

 therefore derive almost no benefit from spraying except with sprays of 

 pure alcohol or oil. The alcohol is too expensive except for small plants, 

 and the oil is too severe on the trees. Fumigation as done by the com- 

 mon method, even when an extra heavy dose is given, only serves to 

 check them for a few weeks; the gas fails to penetrate into the larger 

 masses of eggs, and the result is that in about three weeks the mealy bugs 

 are quite numerous again. 



The method here described is the method of many experiments, and 

 is the best practice and only one that has completely eradicated the 

 mealy bug from the citrus orchard so far as is now known. 



The best practice is to fumigate with a large dose, usually double or a 

 little more than the ordinary, say from a pound to a pound and a half 

 to an ordinary Navel orange tree, using about four times to four and a 

 half of water, and leaving the tent, which must be a good one, on all 

 night. If the mealy bug has not formed any large masses, this will 

 generally give complete killing, provided the ground is free of weeds. 



The next best time is to fumigate just before picking the fruit, which 

 should be picked the next day, and all, even those poor oranges on the 

 ground, removed or treated with coal oil or distillate; this has given 

 very good results where carefully done. 



Perhaps the least desirable but equally successful method is to fumi- 

 gate all night with heavy dosage and slow firing as in the first method, 

 and the next day treating the large masses of bugs and eggs by hand 



