Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-11-17
BUGS! BUGS! BUGS!
THE RAYAGES AND THE DESTRUC-
TIYENESS OF THE BUGS.
The Fruit-Growers Devote an En-
tire Day to Consideration
of Insect Pests.

The Fruit-Growers' Convention recon-
vened in the Assembly Chamber of the
State Capitol at 8 A. M. yesterday. About
one hundred farmers and fruit-growers
were in attendance, the discussions were
entered into with much spirit, and the only
thing that can be criticised is the fact that
some few want to do all the talking. Gov
ernor Stoneman was present and TOOK
| quite an interest in the insect pest discus
sions. He has an orange grove IN San
Gabriel valley, and is as much interested
in the subject of exterminating this curse
as is any orange-grower in southern Cali
fornia. A large number of the fruit grow
ers of Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and Ell
Dorado counties put in an appearance yes
terday. The ravages of the Goblin moth,
which worked the ruin of their apple crops
this season, has caused them to become
much interested in the subject of their ex-
termination. They have been fighting the
bug, but with i'll success, for, like Billy
Birchs bedfellow, " it gets there all the
same"
AN ESSAY ON BUGS.
A considerable portion of the morning
session was occupied by W. G. Klee, who
read two able and exhaustive papers. The
first was on the Goblin Moth" This was
of peculiar interest to all present; for
while all do not have fruit that is affected
by scale, all do have fruit, such as apples,
pears and ounces, that are injured by the
Goblin moth. His essays were so lengthy
that they cannot be given in full, but the
following extracts were noted as he read
them:
He said in the estimation of many fruit
growers, this was the most pernicious pest
ever introduced into this State. 1t exists in
nearly all the northern counties, and, with
the exception of Ventura, in all, from Sac
ramento to San Diego. Some sections in
this district, however, have so far escaped.
In Carpenteria, Santa Barbara county. the
moth has not yet put in an appearance,
which seems little strange when the fact
is taken into consideration that the Or
chardists in that section are not vigilant as
regards its introduction and spread. A the
ory is advanced at Carpenteria that the
moth is kept out by the coal-oil odor which
there pervades the atmosphere. This the
DRY he did not believe was founded in fact.
The absence, in his opinion, was owing to
the fact that they had
RECEIVED NO RETURN INFECTED BOXES.
The people of that section, approaching
their present good fortune in that respect
should take all precautions in the future
against the importation of this obnoxious
merchandise. The work of the Goblin
moth is too conspicuous and too well
known to need discussion, and he would
pass directly to that of the remedies, of
which there are many, but none, so far
as tried, quite satisfactory, although sew
eral are quite promising. The different
methods employed to destroy the Goblin
moth may be divided into four classes, as
follows: Those aiming at destroying the
young larvae while in the fruit; those aim
ing at the destruction of the mature larve;
those aiming at the destruction of the
moth those aiming at the destruction of
the alternating cocoons.
HOW IT Is DONE.
The first is attempted by spraying. This
is the most promising, and in the East,
where it has been tried for a number Of
years, it has given quite satisfactory results.
OF the solutions employed, the arsenic
compounds have been preferable. A solu-
ton of Paris green, London purple and
lime has proved quite successful. Of these,
the Paris green is the only component part
that was effective to any great extent.
Spraying with Paris green or London pur-
pie is efficient, and not expensive. The
powder wants to be mixed one pound to
fifty gallons of water. 1t is best to wet the
powder thoroughly and mix it into kind
of paste before putting it into the vessel of
water. A common pailful of this mixture
is sufficient for the largest tree. A tea
spoonful of this poison is sufficient for
pailful of water. In May, and June the
calyx of the apple is up, and so the poison
is retained sufficiently long to kill most of
the insects.
THE FRUIT IS NOT POISONED.
The danger from this practice l have
proven to be nothing at all. The micro
scope and chemical analysis have both
shown that all the poison has been removed
long before we wish to eat the fruit. The
wind, no less than the rain, helps to effect
this removal.
Acid or white arsenic dissolved in potash
is used less in the East than Paris green
and London purple. There is no danger to
the health by the use of either. 1t must be
used under proper conditions of the
weather or the fruit and foliage will be
injured.
Whale-oil soap and sClphide OF soda he
recommends as a summer wash. Dissolve
30 pounds whale-oil soap $50 per cent. SOAP
at the most costing five cents per pound) in
60 gallons of water. Boil three pounds of
I've american concentrated) with six
pounds of sulphur and q couple of gallons
of water When thoroughly dissolved it is
dark-brown liquid Chemically, sulphide
of soda) Mix the two, the soap and the
sulphide CT soda, well, and allow them to
boil for about half an hour, then add about
80 gallons of water to the mixture, and it
is ready for use. Apply it warm, at about
1909 Fahrenheit, by means of q spray
pump. Used warm its effect is better, and
less material is required than when cold.
We have found this wash effectual in de-
stroying the Goblin moth.
THERE SHOULD BE UNITY OF ACTION.
The banding system captures many of
the Larvae, but the majority of the larvae no
doubt find other hiding places in fences,
buildings, etc, and perhaps, more than
| anywhere, under the clods at the foot of
the tree; and it is here in an old orchard
| that I invariably find cocoons. To make
the banding system more effective the
ground Immediately around the tree, as
well as that of the whole orchard, should
| be thoroughly pulverized. The greatest
obstacle to the success of the banding sys-
tenn is want of unity of action on the part
| OF OrchardlStS. one Will cOnSclentl0uSly
and thoroughly perform this work and his
neighbor will neglect to do SO. The work
accomplished by the one is counterbal-
anced by the neglect of the other. The
neglect of one poor farmer is sufficient to
counterbalance all the work that can be
accomplished by dozen of bis neighbour
| ing orchardists. There should be a full
and complete cooperation on the part of
all, and then will they be successful.
SCALE INSECTS.
Mr.. Klee also read lengthy paper upon
scale insects He said the ASpidiOt,ts per-
,icios1ls had done more harm to the fruit of
the State than any other, and it was found
in every county from Shasta to San Diego.
This insect has three broods year, in
June, August and October, at which time
all the eggs are supposed to be Matched.
The time for Matching varies somewhat,
owing to climatic influences. They appear
in different stages at different seasons, and
| can be destroyed the most effectually when
they are in the form of young lice. The
old scale are too well protected to be de-
stroyed by washes applied in the summer
months, and this is one of the reasons why
so many have been unsuccessful. One
most important point TO be considered in
| SPRAYING is the size of the tree. While ii