86 



ORAKGE CLTLTURE. 



Briefly, therefore, we will note the most injurious of them 

 only, that they may be recognized when seen, and the proper 

 weapons used in the battle against the invaders. 



The long, or mussel-shell scale insect, is a very tiny fellow, 

 rarely to be seen, unless revealed by a powerful microscope; 

 then it appears like a very lively louse, quick and active in its 

 movements, and when alarmed, instantly seeking concealment 

 under the scale it has created as its dwelling, w^hich has first 

 served as a home for its eggs, which are purple and laid in two 

 parallel rows, and then for its young. 



The latter, the moment they emerge from the eggs, begin to 

 suck the sap from the bark or leaf to which they may be attached. 

 One would hardly think that such a tiny thing could do so much 

 damage to a noble tree ; but the trouble is in their number, 

 which is legion. At length, from under the scale-dwelling, 

 emerges a little fly that may be seen, sometimes, if one stands so 

 that the branch on which they are is between him and the sun, 

 when the latter is low on the horizon, and then jars the tree. 

 They will then scurry around and become visible through their 

 movements for three or four days around over the tree, then insert 

 their beaks in a suitable spot and come to an anchor forever. 

 In a few days the waxy substance of which their scale-house is 

 composed begins to arch over their backs ; their legs, useless 

 now, drop off*, and the fly, reversing completely the order 

 ©f things, returns to a larval shape, lays its eggs and dies ; 

 soon the eggs hatch and the round of reproduction begins 

 again. 



There are several kinds of scale, but all are to be plainly 

 seen on the leaves, twigs, and even on the fruit. All are ene- 

 mies to the tree, and all may be killed by the application of the 

 remedies given at the conclusion of the present chapter. 



The white scale is the most noticeable, its color and the 

 large size of its scale-house, in comparison with that of the mussel- 

 shell scale, just described, making it very conspicuous. 



The scale is highly arched, and of a pinkish-white at 

 maturity, with seven well defined dots, three on each side, and 

 one at the posterior. Just before the eggs hatch, the scale 



