1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
123 
5/1/V JOSE SCALE ON MARKET FRUIT. 
Is the San ,fos<? scale sometimes found on Infected fruit 
In our market really dangerous to fruit growers? will 
these scales ever get to breeding before the fruit is de¬ 
stroyed by use or decay? If they should would there be any 
probability that the young would survive? We see scale In 
this market, frequently. Should a law compelling the de¬ 
struction of such fruit be wise or necessary? How about 
the scale on cuttings of wood? Could they find nourishment 
enough to enable them 'to live and reproduce? 
No biie can question the fact that living San Jose 
Settle itiay often be found on most of the deciduous 
frUitS; and it is even claimed that it has been found 
upon oranges shipped into British Columbia. I think 
it is also true that one could infest fruit trees with 
such scaly fruit, but I have not yet seen or heard of 
any positive evidence that a new infestation, of the San 
Jose scale has ever been started from scaly fruit grown 
elsewhere. Doubtless the scales 
will live and grow on fruits in 
the market, except when in cold 
storage, where they would re¬ 
main dormant. If one should 
deliberately place such an in¬ 
fested fruit on a tree during the 
growing season, the chances are 
that possibly some young scales 
might be born on the fruit and 
might get pn to the tree before 
they settled down for business. 
No one, however, except a bitter 
enemy, would deliberately at¬ 
tempt such an infestation. About 
the only other chance is that the 
peelings from infested fruit 
might be thrown out near sus¬ 
ceptible trees, and if the motliet 
scales oil the parings were just 
in the condition where they were 
giving birth to living young, 
there is perhaps one chance in 
a thousand or more, that some 
of these young might get on to 
the tree. The chances against 
this manner of infestation, how¬ 
ever, are so great, since the par¬ 
ings soon dry out, and thus 
bring about the death of the 
scales, that I believe there is 
very little danger to fruit-grow¬ 
ers infesting their orchards from 
infected fruit on the market. 
The fact, that so far as I know, 
no infestation has ever been de¬ 
finitely traced to fruit grown 
elsewhere, and that the chances 
as just outlined are so small 
against the probability of such 
an infestation, leads me to doubt 
the. advisability of laws compel¬ 
ling the destruction of fruit in 
the market infested with San 
Jose scale. 
In regard to the infestations 
by cuttings of wood infested 
with the San Jose scale, we have 
quite another and a much more 
dangerous problem. Doubtless 
most of the new infestations 
from the San Jose scale come 
through the introduction of in¬ 
fested nursery stock. I think, 
however, that many new infes¬ 
tations, both in nurseries and 
orchards, have been caused by 
the use of cuttings or scions ob¬ 
tained elsewhere. Such a cut¬ 
ting might bear but a single 
scale tucked away practically out 
of sight near a bud or other 
rough spot. The scales will live 
and grow on such cuttings as long as they are kept 
from shriveling and dying. If the cuttings are kept 
practically dormant, the scale will also remain so, but 
it will grow and develop as soon as the cutting is used 
in grafting. Careful nurserymen and orchardists al¬ 
ways scrutinize very closely all such cuttings or scions 
obtained elsewhere, and they usually insist upon their 
being thoroughly fumigated with cyanide and often 
refumigate them themselves. I think there is as much 
need of a law compelling the destruction of scaly cut¬ 
tings or scions as there is one for requiring that in¬ 
fested nursery stock or trees be destroyed. 
It may help if I briefly outline the life and habits 
of the San Jose scale. The scales are simply a hard 
covering secreted by the soft-bodied insect which lives 
underneath. The insect gets its food through long, 
thread-like mouth-parts, which it inserts into the bark 
and through which it sucks the sap of the tree. There 
are two or three or more generations of the insect 
each year, depending on the latitude where it lives. It 
always winters about half-grown under round, black 
scales about the size of pin points; all other stages of 
the insect die when Winter sets in. There is no egg 
stage with the San Jose scale as there is in the case of 
the Oyster-shell and Scurfy bark-scales, but the 
young iice arc born alive and crawl from beneath 
the mother scale. They may crawl about on the bark 
for about 24 hours, and sooner or later when they find 
a suitable feeding place settle down and begin secreting 
their scaly covering, and never move from that spot. 
Thus there is only about one day in the life of the 
San Jose scale when it can transport itself or crawl 
from one place to another. During this period it may 
be blown by strong winds from one tree to another 
nearby, or the young lice have been seen upon the 
bodies of ants and ladybird beetles, and upon the feet 
of birds, which happened to get on an infested tree. 
If these animals happen to go to other trees they 
could easily carry the young, crawling San Jose scales 
with them and thus start new infestations. Practically 
all new infestations, so far as there is any definite 
evidence, come about either through the agency of wind, 
or of other animals, but by far the most prolific source 
of new infestations is the distribution of infested nurs¬ 
ery stock and scions or cuttings. m. v. slingerland. 
PLANTING NEW TREES IN OLD HOLES . 
Would you be willing lo plant a young apple tree where 
an old one in the orchard had decayed? 
At 10 years old some of mv trees were badly broken; 
these, with 40 of unprofitable varieties we lifted out 
with dynamite and set in others, and they have grown 
as well as those in a new orchard set in the open 
field. Every year several of the remaining 400 fail 
from some cause or other, but T will put in no more 
at this stage, because the profitable period of an orchard 
is nearly covered at from 25 to 30 years, so that by 
the time my stragglers would come into profitable bear¬ 
ing the prospective profit would not justify me in de¬ 
voting the ground. In nearly every case so far as my 
observation goes the attempt to grow a young orchard 
among older trees has resulted in failure where profit 
is concerned. They may make fair growth if properly 
cared for, but standing among large trees 20 or more 
years older the effect will be much like young pigs 
taking their chances in the pen with older hogs. I 
would prefer setting young trees in a body in a new 
clean field and as the old orchard is thinned out de¬ 
vote the ground to other crops and treat the young 
trees in more systematic order than is usually done in 
old orchards. henry omwake. 
We have always replanted our trees where they have 
decayed in an orchard, with no bad results from this 
practice, I w r ou!d not replant trees in a wet place in the 
orchard. A. s. repp. 
New Jersey. 
We would not advise setting 
young trees in an old orchard, 
the principal reason being that 
the average apple orchard by 
the time it becomes old is too 
thick already. Instead of plant¬ 
ing in more I should say “cut out 
more.” Should young trees be 
planted they will not do well. 
We have tried it, and find that 
it docs not pay. The ground 
is too shady and full of roots. 
The old trees are bound to rob 
the young ones. I am speaking 
now of an old orchard in full 
systematic rows, where but a 
small proportion of the trees are 
missing. In case of a very old 
orchard where three-fourths of 
the trees are dead, and where 
the location is desirable, young 
trees could be profitably set 
again , but I should by all means 
place them in a new order, so 
they would not occupy the form¬ 
er place of the dead ones. 
W. A. BASSETT. 
Seneca County, N. Y. 
There are three things to take 
into consideraion. First, is the 
old orchard too far gone to be 
renewed? Second, does stock 
run in the orchard? If so it 
will not pay to plant new trees. 
Otherwise, if orchard is culti¬ 
vated, and nicely taken care of, 
and on good orchard land, it 
will pay to plant in young trees 
of good strong-growing habits. 
ALBERT WOOD. 
Orleans Co., N. Y. - 
I do not think the practice ad¬ 
visable, and am very sure it 
would not be profitable. My 
reasons are that the old tree has 
probably exhausted the food 
supply so that the young tree 
would make a very weak growth. 
A young apple tree needs high 
cultivation the first few years of 
its life, and it is almost impos¬ 
sible to give it such cultivation 
when planted among old trees. 
In my opinion the better plan 
would be to set a new orchard to 
take the place of the old one. 
I have assumed that the orchard 
is 10 years or more old. 
Missouri. j. E. may. 
1 do not spend very much time 
m digging out stumps. Time on a fruit farm is too 
valuable and labor too expensive and hard to get 
to indulge in much stump digging or pulling. Let nature 
take its course and stumps will soon rot and decay so 
they may be easily removed. There is usually no diffi¬ 
culty in making a tree live and thrive where one has 
been removed or near the stump of one that has died 
or blown over. Care should be taken in transplanting 
a young tree to such a location. A large hole should 
be dug and the soil well fined as it is placed about the 
new tree, and a good application of stable manure 
should be placed upon the surface about the new tree. 
The probabilities are that this treatment will ensure 
a healthy and vigorous tree. e. cyrus miller. 
Massachusetts. ____ 
A farmer out In Washington Is reported to store his 
elder in a cement-lined cistern during the Winter, the 
cistern being equipped with a pump. The plan Is said 
to work as well as barreling. That comes near being & 
bulk package of cider. 
