Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-08-17
COITONY CUSHION SCALE.
A Remedy Suggested by Hon. L. j. RIOS
Which Should be Tried

A Remedy Suggested by Hon. l.. j. Rose,
Which Should be Tried.
Hon. L. J. Rose of San Gabriel, delivered
an address at the opening of the late fair
a. Los Angeles, in which he referred to a
new remedy for the cottony cushion scale,
and which, on account of the extended ex-
perience he has had with this pest, is en-
titled to trial with confidence of success.
He said:
We have to exercise ingenuity with wis.,
dom to overcome some serious drawbacks,
and as | have great love for fruit-farming,
and have given it much thought, il may
not be out of place to give some theories,
which have grown out of observation, for
| it is by the small accumulation Of observa-
| ton of various individuals that remedies
may be found.
| Two of the most serious drawbacks
| which have developed themselves in this
country, are the cottony scale, endanger-
| ing in many localities the growing of the
| orange ana lemon with profit, and some
| unnamed disease which is causing the
| dying of vineyards in some localities in
| this county. This cottony scale insect is
most astonishing prolific multipler,
and much experimental work has been
| done by many intelligent horticulturists
and scientists, and as yet with no practical
| success.
|, myself, have expended several thou
sand dollars in spraying and fumigating
| trees, and as yet with more injury To the
| trees than benefit, until l despair of any
| success in either of these modes; but |
| have learned, however, habit of this
| scale bug which is never varied from and
! that is, it always goes up and never down.
| vol To laI, for hur
| only to guard for one direction. 1t may
fall off the tree, and they do in thousands,
and many will hide ard live for a time in
| the ground, but in the end they will find
| the trunk of the tree and go up again. My
| cure would be to trim the tree, stripping
| it of all foliage and small branches, leaving
| only some of the larger branches and well
| cut back at that, then thoroughly wash the
trunk and branches that are left to form
another top, with sal-soda dissolved in
warm water; ia fact, care must be taken
that no egg or bug escapes, for in this
thorough washing success lies, and inn
| mediately after washing and before any
bug eau crawl up, ga inverted cone must
be tied around the trunk of the tree, so
that as they crawl out of the ground, up
| the trunk, they crawl under this cone
shaped bandsge, and when they come to
the end they will stop, for their instinct of
never going back answers here good pur-
| pose. AS they accumulate they will have
to be killed, and if this is carefully tended
for a time, there will be no more in a short
time for they can only live by sucking the
sap of the tree. 1t is easily seen that this
is a radical cure if the work is thoroughly
done, and if the orchard is not too large, it
can be done with comparatively small
outlay, except time.
To make these cones, various expedients
will suggest themselves. DR.. Conger, of
Pasadena, says that he can make them by
| taking old WORKOUT barley sacks (burlap)
and wrapping it about the tree tying
| with fencing rope around the lower por-
ton, then strapping the upper part over
| this, tie and pulling it out so that the
lower edge will not touch the tree, say by
at least half an inch or more. This will
be Il convenient material to press against,
thus killing the bug, when the edge can be
| again adjusted by shaping it cut away from
| the trunk. A cone can also be- made by
| taking tarred paper and cutting it in such a
| way that when tied the lover part will
stand away from the tree. In that case
cotton wool would have TO be used TO fill up
the inequalities of the tree, for there are
| generally valleys or hute-like cutters in
large orange trunks.