May, 1919 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
121 
THE HIDEOUS RETREAT 
The Huns were retreating sul- 
lenly from the Aisne. French ref- 
ugees were flocking wistfully back 
to what were once their homes. 
French soldiers, on leave from the 
front, were trudging forward on 
fearful pilgrimages through char- 
red roads and pulverized villages 
to see what was left of their 
farms. 
The Boche has done hideous 
things. Only those who have 
anxiously watched their own 
things grow can fully understand. 
The Hun had cut down everything 
he could see, even the lilac bushes 
— only what was in the ground, 
alive, they could not kill — accord- 
Control of the Oyster Shell Scale. 
By Charles L. Fluke, Assistant 
Entomologist, College of 
Agriculture. 
The Oyster Shell Scale is the 
most common scale insect occurring 
on apple trees in Wisconsin and is 
the subject of frequent inquiry by 
farmers. It is readily distin- 
guished from other scales attack- 
ing apples by its rather peculiar 
shape, resembling a small oyster 
shell, and by its color, which is very 
much like the dark brown of the 
bark of apple trees; the latter fact 
making it particularly difficult to 
detect if only a few scales are 
present. 
The Oyster Shell Scale seldom 
kills a tree; however, in severe in- 
festations complete limbs and twigs 
are often killed which stunts and 
retards the growth and develop- 
ment of the plant infested to such 
an extent that the resultant tree is 
a hindrance rather than an asset to 
the orchard. 
ing to a vivid report in Collier’s 
Weekly. 
One soldier was amazed to find 
his grape-vines standing. They 
were budding. He reached ten- 
derly for one of the rough brown 
stems. It stirred oddly. The 
sweat broke out on his forehead. 
For twelve years lie had patiently 
cultivated these vines. He took 
hold of the lower stem. It had 
been severed from the root with a 
fine vineyard saw, and its sap was 
oozing from the stump. For three 
years he had fought the Hun in 
the trenches. But he had never 
known that there were people in 
the world who could do this cold, 
calculated harm to a grape-vine. — 
From Fourth Liberty Loan Poster, 
1918. 
The scales attack a wide range of 
plants including apple, maple, pop- 
lar, willow, plum, cherry, grape 
and many other economic plants. 
The winter is passed as tiny whit- 
ish glistening eggs under the fe- 
male scales formed during the pre- 
ceding summer. These eggs begin 
hatching the latter part of May or 
early June and the young scales 
soon seek suitable places in bark, 
leaves or fruit to insert their fine 
thread-like beaks. By fall the fe- 
male scales are mature and egg- 
laying takes place, the adult dying 
soon after. 
HOW TO CONTROL TIIK OYSTKR SHELL 
SCALE. 
Lime Sulfur is the standard spray 
for this and other scales on apple 
trees. It should be used at the 
rate of one gallon of lime sulfur to 
twelve gallons of water, and should 
be applied in the spring as the buds 
are swelling and before any foliage 
appears. The spray must actually 
come in contact with the scales to 
control them, therefore a thorough 
application is necessary. 
If the dormant spray is not ap- 
plied summer sprays for the cod- 
ling moth to which has been added 
lime sulfur, one gallon to forty gal- 
lons of water will help in a large 
measure to keep the oyster shell 
scale in check. Orchards in which 
the summer sprays are regularly 
applied seldom need a special win- 
ter spray for this particular scale, 
however, the most efficient control 
is the dormant application and 
should not be regularly neglected. 
Harden-off plants before setting 
them out by giving them more air 
and less water than they have 
been used to. 
Cultivate around all shrubs and 
herbaceous plants now. Get the 
grass away from the roots so that 
moisture can get in about the 
plants. 
I want to plant a fruit tree in Devastated France and enclose 
, which please forward to the National Horticul- 
tural Society of France. 

To Frederic Craneficld. Secretary \V. S. 11. S. 
Madison, Wis. 
