THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
SCALE IN ILLINOIS. 
Earnest Efforts to Eradicate It—State Ap¬ 
propriates $3,000 FOR Exreriment—Pro¬ 
fessor Forbes Will Inspect Grow¬ 
ing AND Imported Stock. 
Professor S. A. Forbes, state entomologist of Illinois, at 
Urbana, Ill., has issued a circular notice concerning the San 
Jose scale and other fruit insects, in which he says : 
An appropriation of $3,000 was made to the state entomol¬ 
ogist of Illinois by the General Assembly at its last session, 
“for experiment, publication, and instruction concerning the 
San Jose scale, and for the inspection and disinfection of 
orchards and nurseries.” It is the earnest desire of the ento¬ 
mologist that this sum may be used to the best advantage to 
disclose the present condition of the fruit interest of the state 
with reference to this pernicious insect ; to exterminate the 
scale promptly wherever in Illinois it has been or may be 
found ; to protect the nurseryman and fruit grower as far as 
practicable against the chance of future invasion ; and to 
assure the customers of Illinois nurserymen and of other 
dealers in fruit plants that Illinois stock offered for sale is free 
from this pest. 
It was the evident purpose of the legislature to trust the 
control of this important matter to the public spirit and en¬ 
lightened business enterprise of the private citizen, aided in 
every practical way by the official entomologist. It is the pur¬ 
pose of this circular to make to all interested a cordial offer of 
information, advice, aid, and supervision of insecticide opera¬ 
tions, as far as the resources at our disposal will permit; and 
also to ask early and full information from all concerned with 
reference to the occurrence or introduction, known or sus¬ 
pected, of the San Jose scale in Illinois. 
LOCATION OF COLONIES. 
It must be our first endeavor to discover promptly and to 
locate exactly all the colonies of this insect now established in 
the state. Eighteen such colonies have already been found, 
nearly all by an inspection of premises to which we have had 
reason to believe that nursery stock was imported at a time 
when the nurseries from which it came were infested by this 
scale. A considerable number of such suspected importations 
known to us remain for inspection, but these are now being 
examined by an experienced agent from this office. It is of 
great importance that we have at once full information con¬ 
cerning all other importations into the state from places and 
at times such as to make it possible that the San Jose scale 
was conveyed by their means. I consequently earnestly re¬ 
quest all to whom this notice may come that they will send to 
this office prompt and precise information with regard to the 
importation into Illinois of nursery stock or other trees or 
plants subject to its attack, which were grown in any of the 
following localities within the time mentioned after each ; 
California, since 1873; Eastern New Jersey, between 1886 and 
1894; Maryland, since 1887; Florida, since 1889; Washing¬ 
ton State and Ohio, since 1890; Georgia and Louisiana, since 
1891 ; Long Island, N. Y., since 1892 ; Delaware and Eastern 
Massachusetts, since 1893. 
The plants thus far found subject to injury by the San Jose 
1 1 1 
scale are the apple, pear, peach, apricot, plum, cherry, quince, 
grape, raspberry, blackberry, gooseberry, currant, and persim¬ 
mon among our fruits ; the hickory, pecan, English walnut, 
and almond among the nut-bearing trees ; the oak, basswood, 
elm, chestnut, birch, and willow among* our shade and forest 
trees ; and a large miscellaneous list of trees and shrubs, in¬ 
cluding the rose, thorn-apple or red-haw, crab-apple, wahoo, 
spiraea, loquat, cotoneaster, flowering quince, flowering cur¬ 
rant, acacia, alder, and sumach. This insect also seriously 
infests the osage orange, spreading with the greatest facility 
through the thick growth of the wayside hedge. 
It is very important that all supposed or possible cases of 
the appearance of the San Jose scale in Illinois be reported at 
once to this office, accompanied by twigs or pieces of bark 
illustrating the supposed attack. To all communications ac¬ 
companied by such specimens prompt reply will be made, and 
energetic measures for its destruction will be taken wherever 
the scale is thus detected. 
EXTERMINATION OF THE SCALE. 
To owners of premises on which this scale is found the 
entomologist will give all information and assistance necessary 
to the prompt extermination of the pest, sending an agent to 
inspect the situation and surroundings, to give personal instruc¬ 
tion as to methods of procedure, and to supervise and direct 
insecticide operations. An efficient spraying apparatus will 
also be furnished for use where this cannot otherwise be readily 
obtained. This proposition is made on the sole condition that 
the owner will destroy stock hopelessly diseased, and will pro¬ 
vide the necessary insecticide and the labor for its preparation 
and for its distribution to infested stock, and that the whole 
operation will be carried on and continued to the satisfaction 
of a representative of this office. Experience elsewhere has 
shown that expert assistance of this sort is, as a rule, necessary 
to insure success ; and expenditure of public money in such 
an interest can be justified only on condition that everything 
is done needful to the accomplishment of the end desired. 
INSPECTION OF NURSERIES. 
As a guarantee of the freedom of Illinois nursery stock from 
this and other notably injurious insects likely to be conveyed 
in trade, the entomologist further offers to inspect the premises 
of nurserymen and other dealers at least once each year, and 
to give the owner after such inspection a certificate setting 
forth the precise facts apparent with respect to the presence or 
absence of the San Jose scale and other insects dangerous to 
the property of customers. Such inspections will be made and 
such certificates issued only on application to this office, and 
on condition that the actual traveling expenses of the inspector 
and a per diem of three dollars is paid by the owners of 
the inspected property. Special inspections of nursery stock 
imported for sale will also be made, so far as this may be prac¬ 
ticable, on the same conditions and terms ; but to insure such 
inspections requests should be made as long as possible in ad¬ 
vance of the receipt of importations, with at least an apprr xi- 
mate indication of the time when they i re expected to arrive. 
Trips may thus be arranged which will provide for the largest 
possible number of inspections, and reduce the cost of each 
Statements of receipts and expenditures under this head wdll 
be reported to the governor and published in the regular 
reports of the state entomologist of Illinois. 
