THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
1 59 
'THE SCALE IN ILLINOIS 
S. A. Forbe^, Urbana, Ill., state entomologist of Illinois, 
writes as follows to Our Horticultural Visitor, Kinmundy, Ill.: 
Dear Sir :—I beg through your paper to call the attention 
of all Illinois fruit growers, and particularly of all nurserymen, 
to the important fact that the San Jose scale, the most dreaded 
of the scale insects, has been found this fall at three widely 
separated points in Illinois, viz.: Quincy, Tower Hill, in 
Shelby county; and Auburn, in Sangamon county. In all these 
cases the insect was shipped in from eastern nurseries, which 
became infested several years ago by means of importations 
from California. Some of these nurserymen have had the 
courtesy and public spirit to send me lists of their Illinois cus¬ 
tomers to whom they made shipments at a time when their 
premises were more or less infested by this scale. Such ship¬ 
ments thus far reported number 159, sent to not less than 118 
Illinois localities. 
I have undertaken to inspect as rapidly as practicable all lots 
of stock so received, with a view to locating all actually in¬ 
fested, and to giving all needed advice and assistance for the 
extermination of this pest. This is necessarily a tedious por- 
cess, involving several thousand miles of travel and a consider¬ 
able expenditure of time. Much of this can be saved if those 
who have received nursery stock since 1887 from New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Long Island, Maryland, Waycross (Ga.), Cam¬ 
bridge, (Mass.), Florida, or Idado, will carefully examine these 
trees for scale insects and will report the result to my office. 
If such insects are found, infested twigs or clippings of bark 
should be sent to me for examination, since the San Jose scale 
cannot be distinguished with certainty from other less injuri¬ 
ous forms by the uninstructed observer. 
All the ordinary fruit trees are liable to invasion by this 
insect, as are raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, 
and the Osage orange. 
By prompt and general action, careful inspection and con¬ 
scientious report of the facts, there is a very considerable 
probability that the spread of this scale may be stopped where 
it is, or that it may even yet be exterminated in this state. 
Fortunately, several of the nurseries of the East by which it 
was unwittingly distributed far and wide some years ago have 
since been thoroughly cleared of it, as is testified by statements 
of the official entomologists of their state. Furthermore, the 
normal spread of the scale from an infested point is commonly 
very slow, and in all cases which have thus far been detected 
in Illinois, only the original trees infested and their immediate 
neighbors in the same street are now visibly invaded by this 
scale. 
Instructions as to methods of destruction and extermination 
will be given, either in person or by letter to all on whose 
premises the scale proves to be present. 
ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 
The year 1896 is notable for the advance in knowledge of 
economic entomology. The attacks of insects upon fruits and 
crops of orchards and fields, which have caused great losses 
for years made necessary the adoption of methods of a very 
practical kind for their suppression. To this end the United 
States Department of Agriculture and the experiment stations 
issued many bulletins; horticulturists hastened to give in 
lectures and in published articles the results of their expe¬ 
rience, and the necessity of the day brought forth divers forms 
of spraying machines and recipes for deadly mixtures. 
What was needed, however, was a volume compiling general 
information upon the subject of economic entomology, and 
this has been supplied by Dr. John B. Smith, professor of 
entomology in Rutgers college, just published by the Lippin- 
cott Company, Philadelphia. Some time ago we called atten¬ 
tion to the admirable work by Professor John Henry Com¬ 
stock, of Cornell university, entitled “A Manual for the Study 
of Insects” which was the first general work including analyti¬ 
cal keys to all the orders and families, although excellent 
treatises on particular groups of insects had been published. 
The works of Professor Comstock and Dr. Smith are upon 
much the same plan. Each is a most important addition to 
the literature upon subjects connected with horticulture. 
Dr. Smith’s work comprises precisely the kind of informa¬ 
tion needed by those for whom it was written. Progressive 
horticulturists have demanded just such a book. The author 
in his preface says : “ In this book an attempt is made to 
present these [entomological] matters completely enough to 
give a foundation upon which further information may be 
added ; for whatever changes may occur in our battery of in¬ 
secticides, the philosophy of their application will remain the 
same. To do this it is necessary to give an outline of the 
characteristics of insects generally; of those features that 
distinguish them from all other animals, and of those pecu¬ 
liarities upon which we must base our hope of conquering 
them. Enough of the structure is described to show how they 
are built up, and all the different orders are referred to, so that 
the intelligent reader may recognize at least the group to which 
a specimen belongs and may be able to determine whether an 
injurious species is at hand. The direct needs of the agricul¬ 
turist have been kept constantly in mind.” 
It will thus be seen that the work is especially practical and 
this fact will be its greatest commendation. In these closing 
days of the nineteenth century horticulturists as well as mem¬ 
bers of all other classes feel the need of thoroughly posting 
themselves on the details of their occupation, in order to meet 
the competition which results from the marked changes in 
methods due to unprecedented activity and enterprise. The 
mutterings regarding the Maryland insect law are thought to 
be but the beginning of a movement which will prove of vital 
interest to the nursery trade and all nurserymen should be pre¬ 
pared to discuss the subject intelligently. 
It is to their professional friends that the horticulturists of 
the country must turn at this time. Dr. Smith is one of many 
whose investigations have been of incalculable benefit to the 
nurseryman and horticulturist. His book is divided into three 
parts, the first of which briefly describes the physiology of in¬ 
sects ; the second is a systematic treatise on insects in which 
their characteristic forms are classified and their habits de¬ 
scribed ; the third part is devoted to insecticides, preventives 
and machinery. The work is amply illustrated in a manner 
which leaves no room for doubt as to identification of 
species. 
The third annual meeting of the Oklahoma Horticultural 
Society was held at Perry, O. T., on December 8-10. Among 
these present was T. V. Munson, of Denison, Texas. 
