The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1871-09-28
IS Agricultural.
Insects upon Fruit Frees.

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| 1t is afr important that our orchardsts
should examine very carefully the condition
of their fruit trees. There are very many
insect enemies: now preying upon various
frait trees that require immediate attention
before more. serious. injury is done
/ We have visited many orchards for the
purpose of Determination, nSthisswork can
only lie well and thoroughly done with the
I aid of microscope, as there are some'species
Of slugs and lice that defy the ordinary
vision. The destructive insect We will no.
tice is the Pear Slag.,, ThisTis easily. seen
with the naked eye, as this Shiny creature
eats the leaf and leaves it pale and white.
This slugis transparent worm, that ii left
to himself, will soon strip the tree Of its. TO
liage. 50 injnring the tree as to make it cast
its fruit. The best remedy for this destruc-
tive slug is "Ground Gympsum." This is
to be thrown over the entire tree BY hand,
early in the morning. Gympsum thrown
upon the tree few times is death to the
slug, as it contains sulphuric acid. What
Gympsum drops upon the soil is high
ly beneficial, also, to the soil and roots Of
the tree . .. f'...5 : I'll
The next death dealing insect is the
Wooly Aphis, or mealy bug, which is now
greatly injuring our apple trees. This is
their favorite, and in some orchards we have
visited we found they had entirely killed
large trees This insect is easily seen, clus-
tering at the joints Of young branches or
the base of the leaf; under the bark they
look like specks of white cotton wool, but
upon lifting cluster, the red insect will be
seen inbedded in this woolly substance.
This most pestiferous creature is hard to
manage, and when once in the orchard.
nothing but constant and extreme care can
save the trees. .-.,.. -
We venture the assertion that there arc
many orchards now greatly suffering from
this insect where the trees cast their fruit
and yet the owner does not dream Of the
danger that is so nigh, -, .,....s
The Woolly, Aphis, when found; on the
limbs t6 any extent, VIII be found to be
rpztny amopg The roots Of the tree also, and
We h,wes taken a spade and ,Iup9as digging
down, throws up shovelful of meal or -four,
being entire masses of it below ground; in
such cases j. is.hopeEess.s Sliehi trees are
past. recovery, and d<such fnuds are .lost fdt- an
orchard for series Of years until the soil is
entirely renovated. ',:,.''j:1 j i .ri>~"l'
! In the early stages Of depreciation by this
insect, the best remedy yet known,,is the
"Whale Oil Soap" half pound to pail Of
water, dissolve and make suds of, it, and
with scrubbing brush, go over the entire
body and branches of the tree. .scrubbing
severely. and picking off by hand every, clus,
ter Of the insect when found around the
leaves or tender branches. ,}:,,.i h:th.
! The earth around the tree is to be exam
ined, thoroughly dug up, and two or three,
pals of this suds given to the; roots. This
treatment closely followed will cure the evil
if adopted early. .--.---.,.
There, is another serious danger in our
orchards that must Be attended to instanter,
for this danger is not known; the Flax
Louise upon the cherry tree. In several Or
chards we see trees fade away and die, and
the cause is not fully known. Over bearing
is one cause'of great injury, but the other
evil is the flax louse this can only be seen
with microscope, as the. insect :hhgs the
bark close, and is of the color Of the bark,
and only detected by microscope. With
this instrument it will be found by myriads
in number, clinging to the bark like . leach, !,
sucking out its very vitals; the outside Of
the insect, snail like, the color Of the bark,
the under side leach, often covering the
entire tree. '.-s-.... :: '"... II "'>I; Z;
This evil must be attended to, and the
best remedy will be Whale Oil Soap as de-
scribed for the Woolly Aphis, or potash wa
ter, three to FIVE pounds of potash to a-barrcl
of water and the use Of the scrubbing brush. I.
These three insects now form q dangerous
array of evils to our orchards, and having
examined them personally, we have been
thus full to describe, hoping the danger may
be arrested before serious and irrepatabfe-
loss occurs to a wide extent We already
know of almost entire orchards injured be-
yond recovery, ..>t:nGT hGo1Go:G
We would add that We have found the
FLAG Louse also on the dPple and Pear tree.
Will our orchardists look to it and favor us
with reports - California Farmer: