TWENTY-EIGHTH FRUIT- GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



109 



found the thrips at work, and taken fourteen off of a single spot, and 

 when you take those off you. can see five or six thrips in a little piece 

 that would go in a homeopathic phial. It is not a fungus. As you see, 

 Newton B. Pierce acknowledges to having worked in his laboratory for 

 the last three years or more on the fruit that was sent to him, and he 

 says that he has never found evidence of bacteria or the higher fungus. 

 So it is caused by the breaking down of the epidermal cells. And if 

 the fruit is picked before that has time to heal over, it will become 

 brown in spots; if it is left on the tree after it is first marked early in 

 the season and the thrips leave it, that spot will heal over. I have seen 

 a great many instances of that. 



MR. STONE. When this experiment of the box was made, did you 

 find the thrips on the spots ? 



MR. PEASE. If you pick an orange and drop it in the box, I will 

 guarantee that you will not find a thrips there unless it is in the end of 

 the Navel or it is living in the larval state. Mr. Marlatt said to me 

 that it was not strange that they didn't find evidences of the thrips, 

 or didn't find any thrips there, because evidently they had been brushed 

 off while the specimens were in transit. They are on the surface, a 

 small insect, and if you pick an orange and then drop it, the thrips 

 will fall off. 



MR. STONE. Had the fruit in the experimental box been brushed 

 or washed, or simply taken from the tree and put directly into the box? 



MR. PEASE. The oranges are taken as they are picked. The 

 packers do not brush the oranges in this locality. The oranges are 

 perfectly bright. 



MR. CRISP. Two things have been brought out in this discussion: 

 One is that the thrips thrives on all vegetation. The other is — or the 

 deduction made from the statement would be reasonable — that it only 

 works injury at a certain time of the year, because the statement was 

 made that the fruit picked at a certain time showed injury, but if left 

 on the trees the injuries would heal. And this fact was used as a double 

 argument for picking fruit later, thereby avoiding the injury and at the 

 same time giving more marketable fruit. Now, as a remedy has been 

 offered in the distillate spray, how far should we extend that spray ? 

 Only to our lemon trees or orange trees ? Or, what immunity would 

 you get from merely spraying our fruit trees ? If the thrips is such a 

 universal menace it would seem that merely spraying our fruit trees 

 would be of but temporary advantage. Then again, if it is determined 

 that the thrips only thrive or do injury at a certain time of the year, it 

 is important to know what that time of the year is, in order, if spraying 

 is of advantage, to do it at the proper time. 



MR. PEASE. I think I can answer part of that gentleman's question 

 all right. You will understand that I took up this matter individually 

 very late in the day. The gentleman who called my attention to it said 



