Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1868-05-26
THE HERALD.
Bark Lice, (coccidae) and How to De-
stroy them-Their Destiny.

appears well 10 provide against Ihoii
multiplication which is an easy mat
ten. Wood ash ley or strong SOAP
suds, if applied AZ the time when the
lice are hatched out and crawling
about. will surely kill millions OF
them. All kinds Of apple trees are
rot alike injured by bark lice. Seine
are scarcely hurt at all, the lice not
hiding healthtui nourishment on
them. The Siberian crabs are not
hurt by them. Trees on well cnltur
ed land are not injured in the least,
because the culturing enables the
tree to increase its, support from the
earth and thus compensate for the
fluid drawn off by the lice. The fol>
lowing from Mr.. g. v. Riley's notes
last year, taken from frequent ex-
aminations of lousy orchard in
Cook Co., H., in s67, will enable
the reader TO operate th his liqui |
death at the right time. Every far
mer ought to keep good microscope
to observe for himself: @S3~g3#
June 6th.-Most of the eggs are
hatched, bnt the young have not yet
left the scales.
June 9th.--The past Two days
have been exceedingly warm, the
thermometer rising above 80 degrees
L. in the shade, and the young lice
are running all over the twigs.
june l1th.--They have oil become
fixed, having gathered in the great
est numbers around the base of the
lateral shoots of the terminal twigs.
June 22.-They have increased
! materially in size, the waxy secre-
ton vanishing soon after the last
date, leaving what appears to be the
body, of a yellowish3 brown color
though in reality the body is ander-
meath and separate, and has lost all
trace OF members. -
July 1st.-Though watched every
day, there is no perceptible change
since the I'D of June.
July 2d.-They are now 0.03 long,
or three times as large as when
Matched, and thin, wavy secretion
commences to appear at the posterl7
or end. 3f ss &g
July ~6th.-This secretion has in
creased rapidly and taken on a some
what oval form, with usually slight
cut or depression posteriorly. 1t APP
pears quite distinct from the origin>
| al yellowish brown portion, and is
duller or of a more grayish COLOR
On raising it carefully the louse is
seen underneath, yollowish, of fat.
tened form, the anterior tapering
more than the posterior portion,
which latter IL always distinguished
by having patch of. bright reddish
brown. Though from analogy, it
must have beak of some~kind, it is
SO exceedingly fine and fragile that
have never been able to- perceive it.
July 10th.--There seems TO be an,
other pause in the growth, the scale
presenting the appearance. of fig. 4,
July 12th.--A third plate or secre>
ton has commenced from the postc..
rior portion,
July 15th.--Tnis last plate enlar-
ges rapidly, and is the exact color OF
the bark.
July 20th.-The three plates are
at present readily distinguished, the
last which is considerably larger than
the two others put together having
usually taken slight curve, which
gives the..scale it's characteristic form
Aug. 1st.-Their growth is to all
appearances completed, the scale
measuring 0. IL, while the louise meas.
-ures but 0.05, occupying thus about
half the space within. The three
different growths are now not readi,
ly distinguished, though the narrow
end, is always reddish brown. On
lifting the scale the insect does not
fall out, being retained by a slight
whitish fringe extending from each
side of the scale. ~.
Aug. l2th.---Some of them have
commenced to deposit eggs.
| Aug. 28th.--The eggs are now, app
parently, all deposited, and I have
watched with interest, as the depo-
sition went on, the body of the pa
rent louise shrinking day by. day, in.
stead of extending and becoming
gravid until it is now mere atom
at the anterior or narrow end Of the
scale, in q few days scarcely to be
noticed at all.
f Bark lice came from Europe over
30 years'ago, and have steadily spread
in the east, north and west, the
south not yet troubled with them.
In parts where they first appeared
they long since disappeared some
say their run Is IL years.
Bark lice first made their appear
ance in Grant County over twenty
years ago, and were brought from
Waddams Grove. H., where they
fourished in a nursery. They have
spread steadily, and now but few or.
cbards are free from them. We do
not see that there is any use in
spending time or money to avoid
them further than to use freely of
soap Or wood ash ley when certain
trees become too much covered with
them. Such application should be
made at the right time when, the lice
are patched and crawling about by
the million.
As to the injury done by ice to
trees, there are differing opinions,
bat all agree that when trees are
thrifty as all trees are when cultured
by May and June blowing, they do
but very little injury.
AGRICULTURAL INVENTIONS The
report of the acting Commissioners of
Agriculture for the present year re-
lates the interesting fact chat the
number of agricultural Inventions
now annually perfected ism than
forty-fold greater thanait Was twenty