The National Nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK. 
Copyright, 1897, by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co. 
VoL. v/ ROCHESTER, N. Y., DECEMBER, 1897. No. 11. 
TO EXTERMINATE SCALE. 
Dr. John B. Smith Advises Action, Not 
Dependence upon Law and Conventions 
To Do the Impossible—Result 
OF Recent Research. 
Dr. John B. Smith, New Jersey’s noted entomologist, makes 
the following timely observations on San Jose scale in a con¬ 
tinued article in the American Agriculturist: 
The San Jose scale multiplies with enormous rapidity; but 
so do plant lice, and some other insects, as melon growers know 
to their cost, acres of vines becoming covered with plant lice in 
a few weeks, from a few scattering individuals noticed in early 
summer. Is the scale so hard to kill ? Yes, and no ! It is no 
worse in this respect than some of our native scales, because 
on some trees infested by both San Jose and “ scurfy ” scales, 
winter treatment killed nearly all the pernicious form, while 
the tree is -now coated with the common species which the 
application left unharmed. It was simply a matter of the time 
of treatment. The unprotected larva in the San Jose scale is 
just as easy to kill as that of any other armored scale, only— 
and the difference is important—in scales with one annual 
brood one or two sprayings will reach the entire crop of larva; 
in the San Jose scale, which breeds continuously for several 
weeks, treatment against the larvae must be made at frequent 
intervals during the life of the breeding scales. Another very 
important matter is, that if a single brooded scale is reduced 
by proper treatment to insignificant numbers, it takes it sev¬ 
eral years to recover. The San Jose scale, on the contrary, 
from the same nucleus becomes as bad as ever by the end of 
summer. But do we not get the same thing with the potato 
beetle ? Kill them off in spring and then let them alone, as is 
the usual practice, the balance of the season, and next spring 
there will be just as many as before to be dealt with. 
The truth is that we have not taken these facts into proper 
consideration, and have attempted the impossible—extermina¬ 
tion by a single treatment or at one single season. 
Now, I will make the very radical assertion that the San 
Jose scale is a very easy species to deal with, and that its 
practical extermination in an infested orchard is not particu¬ 
larly difficult. I will admit, however, that the treatment to 
accomplish this result is heroic and somewhat expensive; but 
if the trees are not worth the labor and expense involved, they 
might as well be taken out altogether, because the scales will 
sooner or later kill them and will at once reduce the 
value of the fruit, if they do not make it actually unsalable. 
To accomplish the result above indicated will require treat¬ 
ment both in winter and in summer, because winter treatment 
alone, whatever the medium, will, I am convinced by experi¬ 
ence, prove ineffective, and repeated summer treatment alone 
might prove injurious to the trees. After January :st, and at 
any time before the trees become in the least active, spray with 
pure kerosene of the ordinary 150 degrees test. Be thorough, 
but not wasteful; use enough to make a film of kerosene capa¬ 
ble of penetrating into the smallest crevices; but let that film 
be of the thinnest possible description. Do the work on a dry 
bright day with enough air stirring to favor rapid evaporation 
and do it yourself, or at least superintend, so that carelessness 
in the application be not charged against the insecticide as 
inefficiency. 
Whale oil soap, two pounds in one gallon of water, will do 
almost as well on smooth-barked young trees; but not on 
rough or scaly-barked older ones, because of its much smaller 
penetrating power. Ten days or two weeks thereafter, trim 
out the trees thoroughly and carefully; cut out all the wood 
not absolutely needed, but do not risk spoiling or even injur¬ 
ing the tree. Leave enough to carry a moderate crop of fruit 
if the trees are in bearing. Do not trim before spraying, to 
avoid cut surfaces into which the kerosene might penetrate. 
The trimming is to remove that wood least easily reached by 
the spray and thus to reduce to the lowest possible point the 
chance of surviving scales. A few will survive almost cer¬ 
tainly. A few trees will probably be entirely cleared; but most 
of them will harbor a few survivors, no matter how many 
treatments are made. Watch closely during the following 
July for traces of the scales on fruit, and as soon as such are 
noticed, spray again with undiluted kerosene. If applied as 
above directed, so as to afford a chance for rapid evaporation, 
no harm will be done to fruit or tree, while in nine out of ten 
cases the scales will be completely destroyed. Thereafter a 
close watch each summer and a prompt use of kerosene when 
scales are noticed, will not only prevent injury but will in not 
too great a time “exterminate” the scale. Try it! Don’t 
rely upon laws and conventions to do the impossible ! 
EUREKA PEACH. 
Regarding this peach, illustrated in the frontispiece of this 
issue, the introducers,L. F. Sanders & Son, Plain Dealing, La.^ 
say: “Eureka ! Yes ! We have found it one of the finest early 
peaches yet introduced. It originated in Bossier’s Parish 
(Northwest), Louisiana. It is a seedling of the Chinese Cling, 
is medium to large, oblong; creamy white, with red blush; a 
very beautiful peach. Flesh tender, juicy, and of very delicious 
flavor; semi-cling. Ripens perfectly to the seed. Ripe 5 to 8 
days before Mamie Ross, loth to the 20th of June. The 
nurserymen who saw and tasted this peach in St Louis in 
June, 1897. pronounced it remarkable, and we have sold sev¬ 
eral thousand buds since the meeting. 
J. Horace McFarland, of Harrisburg, Pa., the well-known 
horticultural printer, wrote us on the 25th of June in regard 
to peaches sent him:— 
“J. H. Hale, the noted peach man, was with me Tuesday 
and together we ate the Eureka peach. Mr. Hale’s opinion 
was a decidedly favorable one to this peach. The peach seemed 
to be of unusually good quality for so early a f uit ” 
