February, 1916 
23 
ASPHYXIATING THE FEBRUARY FOE 
A Preliminary Preparation for the Great Spring Drive in the Garden—Liquid Bombardment 
of the Scale and Its Destructive Allies 
ROBERT STELL 
T HAT eternal vigi¬ 
lance is the price of 
immunity from garden 
pests will be gainsaid by 
no one who has ever had 
much to do with growing 
things. Also, it is easier 
to prevent scale, fungi 
and harmful insects than 
it is to cure them, and 
for this reason winter 
spraying is one of the 
essential requirements 
for successful results 
after the real growing 
season begins. 
Prominent among the 
pests that can and should 
be reached now is the 
San Jose scale, the bane 
of every fruit grower’s 
existence. This para¬ 
sitic growth, made up of 
clusters of greyish, 
round units hardly 
larger than small pin¬ 
heads, is often unno¬ 
ticed until its damage 
has been done. It is a 
bark growth, and attacks 
not only fruit trees, but 
shade varieties and 
shrubs. Do not wait for 
its ash-like clusters to appear; whether its presence is suspected 
or not, spray, spray everything, and spray now with the lime 
sulphur solution. 
Less dangerous than the San Jose, but nevertheless a men¬ 
ace to woody things, is the oyster-shell scale, so called from 
the resemblance its protecting shell bears to that of the bivalve 
of half-shell fame. It is especially partial to apple trees, 
where, although often unsuspected, it is a source of danger. 
The best cure for it is the lime sulphur spray which, like the 
other solutions mentioned in this article, can be obtained from 
any of the large seed houses. 
Two other quite different growths which should be reached 
by the winter spray are the blister mite and the peach leaf 
curl. The former causes those brownish spots often seen on 
apple and pear leaves, 
and may be checked by 
spraying now or early in 
the spring with dilute 
kerosene emulsion. Win¬ 
ter spraying is also ad¬ 
vised for the curl, using 
either Bordeaux mixture 
or lime sulphur solution. 
No universal date can 
be set for this first dor¬ 
mant season pursuit of 
the scale and its destruc¬ 
tive allies, but as a basis 
for calculation February 
1st may be considered as 
the proper time in the 
latitude of New York. 
Then the trees have no 
leaves, flowers or fruit 
to be injured by the 
strong solutions which 
must be applied. Also, 
the germs or eggs, as the 
case may be, which must 
be destroyed are more 
easily reached by the 
spray at this time than 
later on, for one does 
not have to overcome the 
protecting shelter of the 
leaves. 
Turning now to the 
methods of applying the 
various pest-k i 11 i n g 
liquids, we find the situ¬ 
ation governed some¬ 
what by the local condi¬ 
tions and the preference 
of the grower. On large 
places, where there are 
many trees to be treated, 
one of the large barrel 
sprayers mounted on 
runners or wheels is 
often a good investment. 
For less extensive oper¬ 
ations the knapsack type 
is excellent, and if this 
is of the compressed 
air variety, considerable 
time and effort will be 
saved in the actual oper¬ 
ating. There are also 
various smaller hand de¬ 
vices, but in selecting 
one of these it should be 
remembered that it must 
have sufficient power to 
force the spray properly to the upper parts of the trees. If 
Bordeaux mixture is to be used, the metal parts of the sprayer 
should be of copper. 
Whatever type of apparatus is used, it must have good 
nozzles. Perhaps the best of these are the Vermorel and the 
Bordeaux. These throw the solution in an effective manner, 
but to keep them up to standard they must be thoroughly 
cleaned after use, a point which applies, indeed, to all parts of 
the apparatus. 
Before you actually begin to spray, mound up the tree and 
shrubs to be treated, so that the powerful solution cannot 
follow down the trunk or stems and injure the roots. Make 
a very thorough job, applying the spray to every part of the 
tree so that none of the scales or fungi can possibly escape. 
The best kind of day for 
the work is a calm, fair¬ 
ly warm one, but if there 
is a wind blowing, work 
with it so that it will aid 
rather than hinder you. 
Spraying under any con¬ 
ditions is apt to be a 
more or less uncleanly 
job, as some of the liquid 
manages to find the oper¬ 
ator’s clothing as well as 
the trees. For this 
reason old clothes are 
the rule, and the hands 
should be protected with 
gloves. 
After the winter 
spraying a second appli¬ 
cation for scale should 
be made late in March. 
The kerosene-soap emul¬ 
sion is the best to use 
for this, and thorough¬ 
ness is of course essen¬ 
tial at all times. 
The large power sprayer, capable of really extensive work, may well 
be purchased by the local garden club and used as a community asset 
The barrel type of apparatus can be mounted on runners for winter 
use or on wheels for moving about when the ground is bare 
