FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
101 
loosed showed that they were scattered 
over perhaps twenty different trees ad¬ 
jacent to the one upon which they were 
liberated; and while they were not so 
widely scattered at Mr. Markley's place, 
they were much more readily found in 
numbers. During- July and August colo¬ 
nies were started in various places by 
Mr. J. H. Brown, who had been placed 
in immediate charge of the insects, and 
the scales were practically cleaned up by 
the lady-bugs and disease together by 
the first of October. A few scales were 
present this spring in March and April, 
but were accompanied by the lady-bugs. 
We feel satisfied that this insect will not 
again command very great attention, or 
excite any special fear. 
EXPERIMENTAL WORK WITH WHITE FLY. 
The Experiment Station regards the 
white fly problem as the largest single 
insect question in the State at present, 
and indeed one of the largest in the 
country. We have, therefore, decided 
to either solve the question or prove that 
further advance cannot be made with or¬ 
dinary means of insect warfare, before 
devoting a great deal of attention to 
other questions. 
Perhaps seventy-five per cent, of the 
groves in Manatee county are infested. 
Infested orchards usually give a good 
crop one year, with a very short crop the 
following year, the flavor, quality and 
shipping powers of both crops being 
much reduced. Supposing 250,000 
boxes of oranges to be a representative 
crop for this county, worth $3 per box, 
and that the loss in yield and quality, 
with consequent lowering of reputation 
and price of all Florida oranges, whether 
having suffered from white fly or not, is 
one-half of what it would normally be, 
we easily have an average annual loss 
of $250,000 for this county alone. Per¬ 
haps almost anyone personally ac¬ 
quainted with the conditions in the coun¬ 
ty referred to will agree that we are 
well within the bounds of fact in making 
this estimate. We believe that our State 
is losing a half million dollars every year 
from the ravages of this insect and that 
with the present rate of extension of 
citrus growing and of fly dissemination 
our loss will reach a million dollars per 
year before a half-dozen years have 
passed. Were it not for the enemies of 
the fly, it would be impossible to produce 
even half-crops, and we doubt if the fun¬ 
gus will thrive in the dryer and interior 
parts of the State. 
Our present recommendation is the 
one first given by Prof. H. J. Webber, 
to spray with rosin wash two or three 
times per year. Examinations made 
within twenty-four hours after the thor¬ 
ough application of such a spray have 
shown about seventy-five per cent, of the 
insects killed, and since it is reasonable 
to suppose that some died later it is seen 
that two good sprayings, properly di¬ 
rected, in winter, will give the trees a 
good clean start for the summer. Ad¬ 
ditional applications may be made in 
spring and summer, but not while the 
trees are in full bloom or the fruit is 
small, unless the bloom is exceptionally 
heavy, when a spray given at about the 
close of the blooming period may be an 
advantage rather than the contrary. 
Experiences in this regard have been va¬ 
riable. 
FUMIGATION. 
Our chief experimental work has been 
to determine the value of hydrocyanic 
