Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-09-22

ment whenever the pest reappeared, and
that neglect would visit us with evil.
In the course of year and half after
this, Mr.. Cooke, who had been some time
an invalid, died. His death was great
loss to this city. Had he lived and re-
tanned ordinary vigor, it is altogether
probable that Sacramento would to-day be
free from the scale that now threatens her
trees.
With Cookies death the subject of the
pests died out of mind, and not until re-
Gently has it had attention commensurate
with its Importance though frequently the
people were warned of the pest. They
are now face to face with the danger Mr.
Cooke predicted, for We have been ne
glectful.
The white scale is to-day so affecting
trees, plants and shrubs on the north side
of the city that there is every reason to be-
lieve, unless at once checked, it will ruin
the great majority of our foliage and fruit
trees. Such loss would be almost incal
culable to Sacramento. Deprive our streets
and lots of their beautiful tree borders and
the city will lose half its charm and COM
fort. Something effective must be done
about the menace, and that at once. That
which, # it had been taken in time, could,
by watchfulness, have been handled easily
and kept under, is now to be controlled only
by the output of great energy. But it
must be done, and at once. If it is necessary
to lay the ak to half the trees in the city
to save the others, they must fall. Let us
hope, however, that we will not be driven
to this extremity.
a great deal of property, in fact, belongs
to non-residents, some more is vacant, and
necessary to cleanse the trees. Other
property is occupied or owned by people
who have neither the time nor the money
necessary to fight the pest, while the ma
jority of the people are not yet informed
how to wage the war. So, too, it is not
probable that half dozen have spraying
apparatus, and that not one spraying pump
in the city is sufficiently powerful to
reach the loftier foliage. A great many
people are careless or Indifferent upon the
subject, precisely as they were before the
Board of Health compelled them to OBJ
serve certain sanitary regulations. 1t
would seem, therefore, that to make the
war against the scale successful, we must
inaugurate it according to well-defined
and systematic scheme. 1t ought to be
laid out by ordinance and obedience made
compulsory upon all by stringent enact
ments and heavy penalties. The city
should have constructed two or three
machines equal to reaching all foliage for
application of remedies, and these should
be operated by forces of men under in
struction of competent overseers, when
parties do not themselves do the work.
For service upon line of trees, moderate
charges should be made, and thus the city
outlay be returned. Where there are nom
resident owners, the process of the law
should be the same as in the removal of
nuisances, and where the occupants of land
are unable to meet the expenses, other
provisions should be made for doing the
work, for it is the matter of public veal
and not merely of individual benefit.
If the cleansing is left to individual
effort without official supervision, very
little will be accomplished, for the trees of
one or two stubborn, Ignorant or negligent
lot-owners will breed sufficient pests, that
will be transmitted to neighboring trees
and shrubs and herbage, and be carried
and distributed by birds, to ruin all the city
foliage.
The energy necessary to eradicate the
pests in the city ought to be reflected in
activity by county officials to secure the
cleanliness of suburban orchards and shrub |
berry. This State will certainly be called |
upon the coming winter to handle the
whole subject with energy for the orchard |
interests generally. The fruit interests of
this State cannot be left to the hazard of |
such dabbling legislation concerning the
insect pests as we have had in the past |
Laws have been passed to compel orchard
lists to cleanse their trees and apply reme-
lies for the pests, but for most part these
laws have been ignored or defed, and the
local inspectors appointed to enforce them
have proved unequal to the task. Cali
iornia cannot afford single season longer
% put into force measures equal to con-
luering the evil wherever and whenever it
it appears.