Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-01-01
ENTOMOLOGY.

ENTOMOLOGY.
A SCHOOL FOR ITS PRACTICAL STUDY
NECESSITY
To Preserve our Fruit Industries-Ad-
dress Of Professor Dsinelle upon this
subject-Action Already Taken.
Those who have given any thought or
study to the subject, or observed the fear.
full inroads being made by the insect pests
upon the fruit industries of the State, will
have readily arrived at the inevitable con.
clusion that more general and effective
measures for their determination are neces.
sary and must be put forward, unless the
people are prepared to accept the disas.
trous results. The one thing now needed is
that instead of there being only one or two
in the entire State who are fully familiar
with all the various kinds of insect pests,
their habits and conditions of existence.
VIC Aioe0 Pi oOLiSal eISps suoulu DE taken ID
make this knowledge general, or at least
known to all who are engaged in the fruit
industries, to the end that effective meas.
ures may be intelligently applied to eradi-
cate the evil. The publication during the
past year by Matthew Cooke, late Chief
Executive Officer of the horticultural State
Board, OF two most admirably prepared
books upon this subject, one intended as
guide for fruit growers, and the other as a
school textbook, will prove an invaluable
aid In this direction, but there is still
needed a systematic and direct method of
education in general and economic entomol-
ogy to meet the exigency of the case. This
was considered at the recent Fruit-growers'
State Convention, when Professor C. II.
Dwinelle spoke as follows:
ADDRESS OF PROFESSOR DwINELLE.
Many of the horticulturists of Califor.
MIA know go well what they have them.
selves lost and what evils they are threat.
ened with, through the want of knowl. |
| edge of insects, by themselves or others,
that any discussion of the subject must
seem to them superfiuous. l regret to say, |
however, that | have frequent proof of the |
most lamentable ignorance in relation to |
insects, and that, too, where such ignorance |
Is standing threat to the comfort and |
welfare of an entire neghborhood. A few |
examples will suffice. At meeting of the |
Sonoma County Grange was asked if |
there was any danger OF spreading scale |
insects by nursery stock from an infected |
district, II such stock were not disinfected d? |
A travelling tree.seller had been in the |
neighborhood, who assured his customers |
that scale insects were found only in or
cEards, and not in the nurseries. My reply |
was simply to cite cases of serious loss |
through the purchase of infected nursery |
trees.
THE PHYLLOXERA.
Again, am asked by persons intending
to invest in vineyard property whether the |
| phylloxera is serious threat to their |
chosen industry, and this in the face of nu.
merous State reports containing maps and |
statistics showing the rapid spread of the |
insect and the extent of the damage done |
by it. Every one who has carefully stud |
led the subject knows that there is no prac-
tical and radical remedy for the phylloxera
In this State, although there may be pre-
ventives in the way of resistant stocks l |
have seen it stated that the pbylloxera is |
confined to a narrow belt, and that, in the |
face OF facts and published reports. If the |
| belt is naTro1g l would like to own it. and |
then l would be the richest man in Cali. |
fornia. This is disputed, but still am |
willing to argue the matter with any body. |
| heard a gentleman at former truit.gro. |
ers' Convention, resident of the neighhor- |
hood, arise and say that we must have |
either disinfection of boxes, free boxes, or
something or that sort, to cut off this
connection with San Francisco and infected |
vineyards and to prevent the spread of
phylloxera into the county where the gen.
| tleman resided, and that in the face of the
fact that searcher for phylloxera had
found the winged phylloxera within rifeshot
OF where the Convention was then sitting,
and ne, fruit-raiser, and perhaps vine.
yard owner, was talking about the possible
introduction of the phylloxera into his
county. And, gentlemen, in view of the
State reports, in view of the University
pamphlet, prepared and published by Pro
lessor Hilgard years ago, and spread !
throughout this State free to all who
wished it, such ignorance is appalling;
and yet, as / say, l meet gentlemen here
that are going to put in their thousands in
vine growing, and who ask me in earnest
whether this insect is serious threat to
their business. | hear also from the best
authority that we have, that there is no
phylloxera in the southern part of the
State, and consequently it is the place to
go and plant vineyards 1 hope it is, and
30 far as know, believe it is; but, on
the other hand, do not know of the
slightest impeachment to the introduction OF
the phylloxera into that district. What
are the people down there doing to pre-.
vent it ? Are they building up public senti-
ment Are they watching the shipment of
vines, or are there some of them who,
through ignorance of insects and their
ravages, are doing as the Spaniards did,
when they lodged the quarantine existing
between France and themselves, and thereby
introduced the phylioxera into the Malaga
district?
FRUIT UNFIT TO EAT,
say insects should be properly under.
stood in this State and in this city, where
our investors are putting their money into
these viticultural and horticultural inter.
ests. When people 90 on the street here
to buy fruit, they should know whether a
pear is covered with crawling or fixed scale
bugs. When they give fruit to their chill
dren to eat, as they do, many OF them
without pairing, they should know whether
they are eating flesh with the fruit And
1 would not have to go two blocks from
this hall to bring you abundant specimens
of such fruit as l have been talking about.
l should say that the authorities of this
State and city, thr )ugh their Boards,
should look after the health and food of
this metropolis, and they ought to know
the difference between a clean pear and
one that is incrusted with insects.
IMPORTING SCALE BUGS.
Now we have been importing from every
part of the globe the most choice and valu.
able additions to our horticultural resources.
New fruits meet US on every hand. There
is hardly meeting like this in which we
have not exhibited something new and
promising. But we have also imported
with these new luxuries pests, which are
going to cost the State, inevitably, millions
OF dollars For example, take the red