312 Report OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY OF THE 
established practice in the yearly routine work of many farms. 
Equally satisfactory and encouraging, although relatively less com- 
mon, are the successful efforts of commercial fruit growers in 
various localities of this State in controlling the scale in large 
orchards of old apple trees. Unfortunately in this latter endeavor 
these favorable results are exceptional. ‘The average fruit grower 
has not been able to afford efficient protection to his old orchards 
and there is usually more or less spotting of. his fruit, with varying 
degrees of injury to the trees. This failure is felt very keenly, as 
the treatment has entailed much larger expenditures of money and 
labor than have ever been required in spraying to control other 
pests; and, in spite of his efforts, the fruit grower is still in real 
danger of losing his orchard, which constitutes one of the prin- 
cipal sources of income to the farm. ‘This is the common experi- 
ence in localities where the scale is well established, and it is not an 
infrequent complaint that the spraying of old apple trees for the 
scale is impracticable; as the operation is too costly, and despite the 
treatment it is impossible to produce marketable fruit. Dis- 
heartened by the unsatisfactory results attending their efforts, 
some such orchardists have now given up attempts to save the larger 
apple trees, which are dying. If such destruction is to continue and 
to become general in every community in which the scale is intro- 
duced, it will not be long before many of the older apple orchards 
of this State will succumb to this pest. To protect the apple trees 
is, to-day, the most important phase of the scale problem. The 
truth of this will be more highly appreciated by an increasing num- 
ber of fruit growers each year, as they have opportunity to see in 
their own or their neighbors’ orchards the destructiveness of the 
scale. 
Realizing that the present situation with respect to the scale 
would probably occur, the Station, in order to ascertain what diffi- 
culties are to be overcome in the spraying of large trees, and to 
determine whether there are practical and economical methods of 
protecting commercial apple orchards, undertook, three years ago, 
to co-operate with a number of fruit growers in protecting their 
orchards, special attention being given to the old trees. The Sta- 
tion also sprays its own old apple orchard, according to the same 
plan. This serves as a check on the other experiments. It is in- 
tended to continue this co-operation until proper orchard practice 
for the treatment for the scale is thoroughly established throughout 
the State. The orchardists with whom the Station is now co- 
