Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1870-06-07
The Bark-LOuse-Its Period, Decline
and Extinction,

and Extinction.
inclose herewith some orange
parings, upon which are seen clus-
Tor Of the shells of bark-lico, as you
will see, the same in kind as may be
found now or but recently in myri-
ads upon the apple orchard trees in
Wisconsin and other parts of Amer
lea.
/ learn that about fourteen or fif-
teen years ago they first appeared in
tho orange and other fruit gardens
of the Azore Islands, and that in
year or two they spread gradually
over the orange, lemon, apple, pear,
fig and some other fruit tree kinds
in such quantities as to cover the
bark in places, and in damp recesses
spreading in patches upon the orange
fruit, az shown upon the samples in
closed. The injury 70 trees was very
great, the apple trees often killed by
them, and tho orange and lemon
trees being 50 far exhausted Of their
vital fluid as to bear diminutive fruit.
The orange and fruit business, so far
as supplying foreign markets, was
quite suspended during several years,
aud many feared the evil might be
continuous, perhaps permane Mt
The injurious run of these oyster
shell clad insects was during about
ten years, after which they rapidly
declined in numbers, and are now to
be found but occasionally only in
places where the trees are densely
sh AIDED.
So far as known they have had
their run in all these islands, and in
Madeira, and also in parts of Spain
and Portugal, and their period of
power for damage was usually ten to
twelve years, their height of damage
about the tenth year. 1t is said they
first appeared in Spain, thence grad
ually spreading over Europe, chiefly
by means Of the cuttings sent abroad
for propagating kinds of fruit, and
by which means they doubtless
found theic way to America, it is
rockOned about thirty years ago.
A Portuguese naturalist, in treating
upon the local entomology OF this
country some years ago says, "these
shell clad insects glued to the limbs
Of fruit trees and living upon the
fluid drawn from tho bark, Propagate
or hatch in swarms several times q
year, and for term Of years arc OK
tremely hurttul to trees and their
fruit. But they never reappear, so
far rs known, in parts whore they
once existed and became extinct"
lie afilrms the theory now common
ly held as law, that "this insect,
like all others which suddenly appear
in excessive multitudes and are pcs
tilent devourors, beget of themselves
n monster devourer Of their kind
which destroys its unnatural ances-
tors and takos permanent possession
AS did tho Romans who came, con-
quered and settled forever"
/ have given much attention TO
this insect ever since its appearance
in our section of the Wost, about the
year 1878, first brought in some
trees, as was believed, from Wad-
hams Grove Nursery in Illinois.
And like others / made many ex-
perimcnts in view Of protecting my
orchard from it's ravages, fearing
that unless a remedy were found it
would be death blow to our orch
ard prospects. But no check was
ever discovered that awaited as an
obstacle to.their increase Of numbers
Some years since | adopted with full
confidence the opinion Of our great
American Entomologist, Prof. Walsh,
late tae editor OF a paper devoted To
that science, at St. Louis, Mo, and
whose views were substantially those
of the Portuguese writer above. And
since then | have not felt troubled
as to any permanent settlement of
tho bark lice in our orchards.
During the past two or three
years my observations have warrant
cd conclusions coinciding with what
these naturalists wrote many years
ago. In the year 1866, somo Of the
orchards in Grant county showed
diminished quantities of lice, and for
two years the diminution continued,
slowly but quite perceptibly, in all
the orchards. In the year 1869, |
hoard several farmers say the bark
lice had left entirely or were leaving
their orchards, the dead shells still
adhering TO the limbs.
A,,Milwaukee German told me last
fall that his orchard was first affect
ed with lice about eighteen years
ago, and for some years was nearly
used up by them, but for two years
they had disappeared. Since the
discussions raised a couple of years
ago by Mr. WEIGH, of Madison, who
supposed that he had discovered that
these lice bred and burrowed in the
earth, whence they crawled up the
trees, there has nothing appeared in
the papers, by which it may be in
ierred they have been disappearing
generally from the orchards. If so
my letter may close the record of
their existence in our State perhaps
forever. &c. Gown.
fsysl, Azorss, Portugal
The OLD, OLD SToRY.-Advices
from North Carolina tell of the muir