al 
eee 
34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
simply by irregularities on the surface and rather slightly discolored, | 
corky trails in the interior. This work materially reduces the | 
value of the fruit. | 
Many a fruit grower has vainly wished for a spray that might | 
be used to control this pest. Unfortunately the greater portion of | 
its life is passed under ground or within the apple, places where 
it is practically impossible to destroy the pest with the means now 
at our command. By far the most successful method of controlling 
this insect is by promptly gathering and destroying the infested | 
fruit. The early sweet varieties.can frequently be fed to stock, 
and in that way some return secured for the labor involved in 
collecting, or in some instances it may be practical to pasture the 
orchard so that the wind falls are devoured without further labor.” 
This insect is quite local in habit, appearing to display a marked 
preference for sheltered hollows. Advantage can sometimes be 
taken of this habit, and the writer would further suggest that it might 
be advisable, in places where the pest is quite injurious to winter | 
varieties, that it be attracted therefrom by setting a tree or two of 
an early variety, say Garden Royal, in the near vicinity and 
promptly destroying the infested fruit. Should this latter not be 
done the tree might become a center of trouble instead of a trap 
to draw away the insects from the more remunerative varieties. 
San José scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus Comst.). 
This pest continues to attract much attention from orchardists 
throughout the State. The season of 1907 was favorable for its 
breeding, and in many places where no attempt was made to con- 
trol the insect, the scale became very abundant by the end of the 
season. In some instances this was very marked. The breeding 
was so rapid in some portions of the Hudson valley and in the 
western part of Connecticut, that the fruit on infested trees was 
nearly covered by the pest and rendered practically worthless 
thereby. On the other hand, spraying for this insect has been 
exceptionally successful in many places throughout New York 
State. We have in mind one orchard which, at the end of 1906, 
was very badly infested by scale, so much so that many of the 
smaller limbs were well incrusted. A thorough application of a 
lime-sulfur wash was made in the spring of 1907, and as a result 
of this treatment the fruit crop was practically unspotted. This 
is only one of several instances which came to our notice. This 
exceptionally favorable result was probably due in large part to 
the fact that the spraying was unusually thorough. The experience 
