191 
.1161 
A PARASITE FOR SAN JOSE SCALE. 
Last week we referred to a parasite reported in the 
daily papers as feeding upon San .Tose scale. The 
following statement regarding this insect is made by 
Dr. II. A. Surface, State Zoologist of Pennsylvania. 
I recognize the fact that such statements are quite 
likely to be overdrawn by enterprising reporters, 
hut in this case I can assure you that the facts have 
not been overstated. We have bred in this office 
THE NEW SCALE'PARASITE (Much Enlarged). 
Fig. 437. 
three or four species of enemies of the San .Tose 
scale, which are small internal Ilymenopterous par¬ 
asites feeding in the soft tissue beneath the scale, 
and have bred them by the thousands. One or two 
of them are named and well-known species, but the 
others may he entirely new. One is the well-known 
Aplielinus fuscipennis, belonging _ to the family 
Clialcididte. All of them are Ilymenopterous para¬ 
sites, so small as to be merely perceptible by the 
unaided eye. The entire insect is not larger than 
the period in ordinary print. When magnified they 
are found to have four wings, and in general ap¬ 
pearance look not unlike a bumble-bee. 
For three or four years I and my inspectors have 
been working on this subject, having first found 
them effectively destroying the scale in Chester 
county. Then we at once brought them to the office 
here and bred and reared them, and have been 
working on them since, sending them to infested 
orchards in different counties of this State, and 
different States of the Union. We have mapped 
their area of spread as they gradually move over the 
State. We find that they now reach northward to 
Watsontown, about half way between Sunbury and 
Williamsport, and westward along the Pennsylvania 
lines to Lewistown. east of Huntingdon. In the 
counties of Franklin, Adams, York, Cumberland, 
Lancaster, Dauphin, Chester, Berks and Montgom¬ 
ery, they have done wonderful work in cleaning up 
the San Jose scale. Thousands of orchards in these 
counties are* now so free from scale that our in¬ 
spectors find none whatever alive. Orchards that 
have never been sprayed, and were dying, are sud¬ 
denly taking a new lease on life, and show abso¬ 
lutely no scale alive at present, although plenty of 
old and parasitized scales are found on the old wood. 
1'his is enough to show whether this disappearance 
of the scale is due to weather conditions or to the 
parasites. Recently an editor of an agricultural 
PH per appeared to ridicule the entire subject, and 
claimed that "practical fruit growers” say the dis¬ 
appearance of the scale is due to adverse weather. 
A by has not such weather come sooner during the 
past 20 years, and why did such mild weather as last 
Winter kill the scale? Plainly the parasites did the 
work. Certain nurseries that were badly infested 
two years ago are now so clean that we cannot find 
any living scale in them. 
These parasites destroy the scale by feeding in 
the soft bodies of the scale insects as larvae or mag¬ 
gots, one parasite in each scale insect. When it com¬ 
pletes its growth it transforms into a chrysalis or 
pupa, rests awhile as do all insects with complete 
metamorphosis, and then transforms into the winged 
or adult form, and bores out through the scale. 
They then fly and mate and seek other scale insects, 
in the bodies of which they deposit their eggs to 
continue the next brood or generation. There are 
several broods per year. We have not found any 
evidence that they are in turn parasitized, but they 
are kept in check naturally by the scarcity of their 
own food. When they destroy the scale they become 
reduced in numbers, as do parasites of other in¬ 
sects. They will not turn their attention to the 
plants nor fruits, but most of them will perish. We 
have proved that they feed on the San Jose scale 
and the Rose scale, and their hosts are probably 
confined to the smaller species of scale insects. We 
The I'd U KA Iv N EW-YOKKER 
have known and bred them for years, and have 
bred them by the thousands. Another person, who 
was temporarily in our employ, working under my 
directions, bred two specimens, and having thought 
his work was original, rushed into newspaper print 
during the past two weeks, to a remarkable extent, 
trying to claim credit for everything. He obtained 
nothing but a species that is well known, and was 
described many years ago, and, of course, did noth¬ 
ing toward making the work practical. 
I consider this the greatest horticultural event of 
the entire season, and it will prove to be something 
of tremendous importance in other parts of this 
State, and in other States within the next few 
years. As an outcome of this work, we can now 
say that we now know that the San .Tose scale can 
be kept in check by natural enemies, and that at 
best it will have its periods of increase and depres¬ 
sion at intervals, the same as other insects, instead 
of sweeping everything before it as it has done in 
this State during the past decade and a half. Going 
to the edges of the parasitized and unparasitized 
districts we are able to get parasites in abundance, 
and send these and the living, but parasitized, 
scale to regions where the parasites have not already 
reached. h. a. surface, 
Economic Zoologist. 
ACID PHOSPHATE AND STABLE MANURE. 
Now it is reported that the use of acid phosphate with 
stable manure is not advisable, because the action of 
the manure renders the phosphate less available. What 
are the facts? s. b. il 
The Wisconsin Experiment Station has published, 
in “Research Bulletin 29” of that Station, the report 
of laboratory investigations respecting the effect of 
fermenting manure on the availability of phos¬ 
phorus, from which I quote the final paragraph: 
These conclusions require testing under field con¬ 
ditions before tliey can be applied to direct agricultural 
practice. However,- so far as the results of *pot ex¬ 
ANOTHER VIEW OF SCALE PARASITE. Fig. 438. 
periment indicate conditions in field practice, the final 
results from mixing rock phosphate with fermenting 
manure appear to be advantageous. In the case of acid 
phosphate it appears inadvisable to mix the material 
with fermenting manure. It is probably better prac¬ 
tice to add it to the manure at the time of application 
to the field. 
In the field experiment of the Ohio Experiment 
Station a quantity of fresh cattle manure is weighed 
out of the stables in December or January, and 
forked over carefully to secure a uniform product. 
The manure is then divided into several equal por¬ 
tions, two of which are left without further treat¬ 
ment, while with two acid phosphate is mixed, using 
it at the rate of 40 pounds per ton of manure. One 
of the untreated portions and one of those treated 
with acid phosphate are immediately spread at the 
rate of eight tons per acre on the clover sod of a 
three-year rotation of corn, wheat and clover, while 
the other two portions are left in compact heaps in 
the yard until April, when they are taken to the 
fieh\ and spread on other land in the same experi¬ 
ment, and all are plowed under for the corn crop. 
The outcome of this treatment has been that the 
untreated manure, spread while fresh, has produced 
a total increase for (he three crops of the rotation 
to the value of $26.01, as a 15-year average, while 
that allowed to lie in the barnyard during the win¬ 
ter has produced increase worth $20.43. In the 
case of the treated manures, however, these values 
have been $41.45 and $35.74, respectively, thus show¬ 
ing a gain for the treatment of $14.84 in the case of 
the manure spread immediately after treatment and 
of $15.31 in the case of that which lay in a heap for 
some months after treatment. These results, there¬ 
fore, would seem to indicate that such fermentation 
as has taken place during the Winter months has not 
reduced the effectiveness of the phosphate. 
Oil AS, E. THORNE. 
Director. 
WINDMILL POWER FOR ELECTRICITY. 
Some years ago there was a lively discussion over 
the possibility of using wind power for developing 
electrical force. That was before the day of the 
gasoline engine, and windmills were being handled 
and sold in large numbers. No one questioned the 
cheapness of wind power, for the air which blows 
over the farm is about as free as anything can be; 
in fact it seems to be too free when it blows down 
our apples, breaks off the limbs of trees, and tangles 
the grain. Everyone recognizes the vast amount 
of power running to waste in the wind, and in the 
force of the ocean waves, but up to within a short 
time no one succeeded in harnessing these forces 
practically for electrical power. Now comes Bulletin 
No. 105 of the North Dakota Experiment Station 
at Fargo. This unique bulletin is entitled “Wind¬ 
mill Electric Lighting and Power.” It is really a 
thesis which was submitted by Wallace Manikowske 
for the degree of Bachelor of Science. Mr. Mani¬ 
kowske gives in much detail the developments of his 
plant, by means of which he has been able to use a 
windmill for generating electricity and then holding 
it in a storage battery. There is much technical 
detail in the bulletin, which would probably in¬ 
terest only those people who are of a mechanical 
turn of mind. Briefly stated, Manikowske worked 
for years to try to utilize the windmill power, but he 
found the same troubles which others before him 
have encountered. Wind power is intermittent, and 
varies in speed and force with the velocity of the 
wind. In order to run a dynamo properly a uni¬ 
form speed is necessary, and a governor was there¬ 
fore needed which should regulate speed and power 
and give it uniformity. An ingenious device which 
is pictured in this bulletin solved this problem, so 
that the speed of the wheel in different classes of 
wind is regulated and controlled. 
Another old difficulty was experienced in the 
leakage away from the storage battery. When the 
windmill is developing power, and this power is 
regulated, the electricity flows into the battery from 
the dynamo: with a steady power like an engine 
or water wheel this flow continues. When the 
wheel stops, however, as it usually does several 
times during the day. unless something in the way 
of a check valve can be used, the electricity flows 
back away from the storage battery, and is lost. 
In order to overcome this objection a check valve 
and a switch board have been devised which permit 
the flow into the battery, but cut off the current 
so that it cannot return. With these things worked 
out, this windmill power has given excellent re¬ 
sults. It is used for lighting house and barn, and 
by means of a small motor to run ail kinds of 
farm machinery which require a turning wheel. A 
little motor so small that a man can easily carry 
it about from place to place is used for farm work, 
and displaces two small gasoline engines. This 
motor is used for pumping, running electric fans, 
turning farm machinery, doing kitchen work, such 
as running a bread mixer, potato peeler, and dish 
washer. It heats electric stoves, hot pads, vacuum 
cleaners and flatirons, turns the washing machine, 
and then dries the clothes in case of a rainy day. 
In fact one would think that the millenium had 
about come on the North Dakota farm where this 
outfit is operated. We are given figures, giving the 
cost of operation, and it appears that the cost of 
wind power is about one-third of that where gaso- 
WORK OF THE SCALE PARASITE. Fig. 439. 
line or steam are used as a source of power. The 
cost, of the plant is about the same in either case. 
We have long felt that our good old friend the 
windmill should not be driven off the stage. The 
mills are now rarely advertised or shown at farm 
exhibitions, yet this bulletin clearly indicates a new 
use which may be made of them. Most of the bul¬ 
letin is of too technical a character to intei*est the 
majority of our readers. Those who wish to study 
the matter out fully ought to get this bulletin anil 
go over it carefully. 
Ohio Experiment Station. 
