My Experience With the White Fly 
Roland E. Stevens. 
My first experience with the white fly 
came about four years ago, at which time 
it appeared in one of our small groves, a 
few of the trees being slightly infested. 
The effect on the trees was very slight 
for the first two years, and while they 
were sprayed twice a year with whale oil 
soap solution, it seemed to have very lit¬ 
tle effect. As they did not spread rapid¬ 
ly, we did not have the respect for them 
which we have later attained. It was 
not until two years ago that they really 
blossomed out, as it were, in the whole 
five-acre grove. At that time I started 
after them in earnest, and sprayed with 
an oil emulsion early in the spring and 
again in August. It seemed to have lit¬ 
tle or no effect on them, and I lost faith 
in the miscible oil sprav. At that time 
we also started the fungus. We pro¬ 
cured some of both the popular varie¬ 
ties, the red and the brown, and sprayed 
them thoroughly throughout the grove, 
with very good results. It seemed that 
wherever a drop of the fungus solution 
struck a leaf it very soon developed into 
a healthy parasite. By the end of the 
summer the entire grove was thoroughly 
covered with both the red and the brown 
fungus, and while the trees did not show 
any new growth in September nor the 
following spring, and consequently no 
bloom, we began to feel we were getting 
results. 
The fly soon spread to our other 
groves, and as soon as it appeared in one 
after another, we followed it with the 
fungus. In one of our larger groves we 
thought to delay the progress of the fly 
as much as possible by spraying with an 
oil emulsion at the same time that we 
put in the fungus, about two weeks after 
the fly had disappeared from the wing 
in the spring. 
We sprayed the entire grove at this 
time, and in August went over half of 
it with the emulsion the second time. 
The emulsion would of course kill some 
of the larvae, but an amount too small to 
consider it a successful spraying. We 
have, however, a very good catch of fun¬ 
gus, and the trees, which were very black 
last fall, are now clearing up and put- 
out a good strong growth this spring. 
The color is improving, and we believe 
the worst of the ordeal is over. 
I can heartily recommend the fungus 
diseases as cures, at least partial cures, 
for the fly, once they have become estab¬ 
lished. I can not advise too strongly 
however, the use of preventive measures 
Had we known three years ago what we 
know now, we never should have lost i 
crop on half our groves, as we have done 
now. If the fungus had been startecjj 
when the fly started and been thoroughly 
applied, I have no doubt the trees woulc 
