6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 3 
Ruralisms 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Tite Pernicious Scale. —A late num¬ 
ber of the Farm Journal contains this 
not very profound paragraph: 
So wideawake a paper as The R. N.-Y. 
said in a recent issue that “it took Cali¬ 
fornia 20 years to set rid of the Pernicious 
scale. We have had it 10 years, and have 
made but little progress in controlling It 
so far. The lime, salt and sulphur wash, 
so effective in California, is of no value on 
the Atlantic coast. It requires long pe¬ 
riods of rainless weather to maintain its 
action.” Now the facts are that nothing 
yet has been found so effective and useful 
against the pest as the lime, sulphur and 
salt mixture, either on the west coast or 
here in the East. We believe it is just as 
valuable here as it is anywhere, and the 
statement so persistently and stubbornly 
made that it will not answer iA a moist 
climate is utterly without foundation. 
Does The R. N.-T. read the Farm Journal? 
The quoted statement may be found 
on page 61 of the preceding volume (is¬ 
sue for January 26, 1902), in the report 
of the last meeting of the New Jersey 
State Horticultural Society, as part of a 
synopsis of a paper by Prof. John B. 
Smith, State Entomologist, on “Modern 
Methods of Dealing with Injurious In¬ 
sects.” The statement is given substari- 
tially in Prof. Smith’s language, and 
may be taken as his conclusion at the 
time. Favorable reports have since been 
made of experiments in a few eastern 
localities, but it does not yet appear that 
the lime, sulphur and salt mixture, 
which must be applied hot, has any real 
advantage over the more easily handled 
petroleum or whale-oil soap applica¬ 
tions. Prof. Smith, whom all will ad¬ 
mit is a competent authority, will doubt¬ 
less modify his opinion as far as trust¬ 
worthy evidence permits. Meanwhile it 
would be well for the Farm Journal to 
keep its clippings nearer to date. 
This Scai.r not so Deadly. —Another 
season’s observation of the Pernicious 
scale is rather comforting in that it does 
not appear to kill off infected trees as 
promptly as we were led to expect. Many 
trees have been reported dead from scale 
infection that may have had but a short 
shrift of life from other causes. It is 
commonly supposed that scale untreated 
will kill young orchard trees, otherwise 
healthy, in two or three years, but we 
have yet to find a tree apparently dead 
or dying from the pest that did not af¬ 
ford evidence of some more dangerous 
affection. Trees, both small and large, 
so thickly crusted that they seemed 
doomed a year or more ago, are still 
living and in some instances have borne 
tolerable fruit. In 1893 the writer plant¬ 
ed a mixed collection of fruit trees in 
northern Virginia, purchased from a 
New Jersey nursery before infection had 
been detected. Pernicious scales were 
doubtless present on many of these trees 
at the time, and became very evident a 
few years later, when twigs were for¬ 
warded to ascertain the cause of the un¬ 
pleasant and harmful crust that ham¬ 
pered the growth of some of the trees. 
The farm on which the planting was 
made having been equipped for dairy 
purposes, the trees were neglected and 
nothing was done to check the scale, 
which has had full sway for nine years. 
During this interval about half the 
trees, including most of the peaches 
and the Japan plums, have died out, 
but a recent personal investigation 
made it evident that the missing 
trees perished from yellows, gum- 
mosis. borers and causes incident to 
neglect rather than from the inroads of 
the scale, which still persists on many 
of the survivors better placed than those 
fallen out of the race. Most of the 
scale-infected trees now standing are 
growing vigorously at the top, though 
badly crusted and with many dead lower 
branches. Pear, apple, cherry, Ameri¬ 
cana and Domestica plum trees, in some 
localities endure Pernicious scale infec¬ 
tion a long time, though they may be 
seriously injured by the secretions as 
well as by the abstraction of sap. We 
have no desire to minimize the danger 
from this very serious pest, which is 
causing trouble enough here in the East, 
but it is misleading to credit it with 
lethal powers it does not ordinarily 
possess. 
Whale-Oil Soap or Petroleum?— 
Four years ago the Pernicious scale be¬ 
came troublesome on the Rural Grounds. 
A few infected trees were found in pre¬ 
vious years, and at once uprooted and 
burned, but the re-infection in 1898, 
coupled with the rapid spread of the 
pest in the neighborhood, convinced us 
that a less radical treatment was need¬ 
ed if we were to retain any hard-wooded 
vegetation. Accordingly fresh crude pe¬ 
troleum was used as a spray over all 
trees on which scales could be detected. 
The result was very satisfactory, the 
pests being cleared off for the season, 
and no great harm done to the trees. 
Petroleum was used the succeeding 
Spring on new infections, but the fol¬ 
lowing year we changed to a whale-oil 
soap solution, two pounds of the soap to 
one gallon hot water, sprayed on pro¬ 
fusely. The varying quality of petro¬ 
leum, when bought in small quantity, 
makes it somewhat risky. The soap so¬ 
lution worked so well that we shall con¬ 
tinue it until something better is found. 
We can use it without fear up to the 
opening of the buds, and it generally 
clears the scales out in a fairly effective 
manner. That we find a few scales in 
Autumn on trees well sprayed with soap 
solution the preceding March is no proof 
that the pests were not all killed at the 
time of the application, as re-infection 
is so readily communicated from other 
sources. The greasy coating left by the 
petroleum quite effectually guards a tree 
against re-infection for many months, 
but one is always reluctant to apply so 
uncertain a remedy when a safer one is 
at hand. We should not hesitate to use 
petroleum of known quality in an or¬ 
chard where there are many duplicate 
trees of each variety, but prefer the soap 
on rare or unique specimens. We find we 
can handle the scale on young trees at 
yearly cost of not more than five cents 
for each infection, and hold it in reason¬ 
able check. It is a different and much 
more serious problem on old bearing 
trees, and it is hard to see how they may 
be profitably treated. Our conclusion is 
that Pernicious scale infection is a seri¬ 
ous but not ordinarily fatal trouble, if 
uncomplicated, and that it may be con¬ 
trolled in young orchards with tolerable 
facility. 
That Chinese Ladybird. —The inves¬ 
tigations of the entomological expert 
sent by the National Department of 
Agriculture a year or two ago to ferret 
out the life history of the Pernicious 
scale in its native lair brings to light 
the surprising fact that it is not a Jap¬ 
anese insect at all, but indigenous to 
North China, where it is common and 
widespread, but held in check by a little 
carnivorous beetle or ladybird closely 
resembling the common 'Twice-stabbed 
ladybird of the Eastern States, the little 
black fellow with a pair of vermillion 
dots on his wing covers. Some of the 
Chinese ladybirds were shipped to the 
Department, and a few survived the long 
and trying journey. They have increas¬ 
ed rapidly in their breeding cages, being 
fed exclusively on the scales in larval 
and mature forms, and, it is hoped, will 
soon become numerous enough for dis¬ 
tribution in badly infested districts. 
Much nonsense was written about the 
great cost to the Government of the few 
oriental ladybirds that safely endured 
transportation. It is expensive business 
to send an expert to the antipodes to 
hunt remedies for a new and dangerous 
pes't, but from all obtainable informa¬ 
tion the search was carried on with 
great economy so far as the Government 
funds were concerned, and there is hope 
that much benefit will result from the 
dissemination of the Pernicious scale’s 
ancient foe throughout the country. 
The- native ladybird has not “caught 
on” to the scale as an exclusive article 
of diet, but is certainly making good 
headway in that direction in this lo¬ 
cality. We find them increasing yearly 
on scale-infested trees. Sometimes a 
dozen active adults may be seen on the 
sunny side of a branch in fine weather 
as late as December, lunching off the 
mature scales, and we are quite satis¬ 
fied several trees have been cleared of 
the pest in this manner, though for 
greater security the petroleum or soap 
solution was applied in Spring. It is 
not too much to hope our native lady¬ 
bird and kindred parasitic insects may 
in time act as substantial checks on this 
imported scale if their Chinese cousins 
fail to thrive. 
Not a Japanese Scale. —The Depart¬ 
ment entomologists are now convinced 
the Pernicious scale is no more native 
to Japan than to San Josd, Cal., from 
whence it received its most usual popu¬ 
lar name. They claim it is found in 
Japan only where American plants, es¬ 
pecially fruit tree stocks, were intro¬ 
duced. Importations of American stocks 
were made at several times and places, 
and in this way the poor Japanese in 
their desire to assimilate occidental 
civilization got the scale which had ex¬ 
isted for all time on the nearby main¬ 
land. It appears that horticulture is a 
purely local matter in Asiatic countries, 
and there is absolutely no interchange 
of products from one country to an¬ 
other. The scale seems everywhere pre¬ 
valent in northern China where no for¬ 
eign plants have ever been introduced, 
b'Jt ocrurs scatteringly and is in a state 
of balance with its native enemies. May 
it soon become so here! w. v. f. 
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