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TWENTY- EIGHTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



different moths and butterflies, all the beetles, and some others. These 

 do damage in various ways, some by gnawing into the fruit, like the 

 codling-moth; others by burrowing into the wood, like the peach-tree 

 borer; others by eating the foliage or fruit, like the Diabrotica. Among 

 this class we find some of the worst pests with which the orchardist has 

 to contend, as many of them conduct their work under cover, where it 

 is almost impossible to reach them, and their destruction involves the 

 destruction of the fruit or great damage to the tree. The best means 

 to circumvent this class of pests is preventive. Where their habits 

 are known, methods should be taken to keep them out of our trees, and 

 in this case an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure. In 

 the case of the peach-root borer, it is much easier to erect barriers 

 against the parent moth to prevent her laying eggs on the tree, than it 

 is to dig out the larvae after they have become established. The protec- 

 tion of young trees from the sun by shading their trunks until they 

 produce enough top to supply a natural protection will go far toward 

 keeping out borers. But there is still a large class that can not 

 be circumvented in this manner, and for these, the use of arsenical 

 poisons has been found the best method of righting. Paris green is 

 the standard remedy for the codling-moth and all the leaf-eating 

 insects; and while this method is a cumbersome and expensive way of 

 fighting our little enemies, it is yet the best at our disposal. For the 

 whole group of gnawing insects, then, the two standard remedies are 

 preventives and poisons. 



The second group are the sucking insects. Here we have a very large 

 array of injurious insects, for while some suckers are beneficial, the 

 great majority of them are destructive. In this group we have the large 

 and serious family of Coccidse, or scale insects. It is not necessary to 

 take up your time by describing these, as you are probably as well aware 

 of the damage done by them and the expense of fighting them as I 

 am. There are in this family some 2,000 named species, some of which 

 we have in California. The Aphis family also come under this class, 

 and these two are probably the most numerous, widespread, and destruc- 

 tive of the sucking insects. Their method of operation is to insert their 

 rostrum or beak into the sapvvood of the host plant and deprive it of 

 its life fluid as rapidly as possible. Their rapid increase causes them, 

 when once started, to soon cover the plant which harbors them, and 

 while one is insignificant, when they are at work by millions, the plant 

 is soon weakened. Now, for this class of insects, of course, external 

 poisonous applications are worthless, although I have met with people 

 who had such faith in paris green that they used it for aphids. With 

 their sucking beak inserted below the surface of the plant, no poison 

 will reach them unless it could be forced through the sap of the tree, 

 and this is not probable. To reach these, therefore, a different method 



