Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-08-03
Farm AND ORCHARD.
TEE IMPORTANT WORK OF THE LITTLE
LADY-BIRDS.
Fiickinger's Experience With French
Prunes-Alfalfa in the Noun
tains-Farm Notes.

The scale-bugs must go are going in
this vicinity as fast as any reasonable fruit
grower could ask. Let US investigate a
little. Here is beautiful young acacia
tree. Ten months ago it had a very few
scales on its trunk and larger branches,
perhaps dozen. Three months ago the
entire surface of these parts was we'll nigh
completely covered with scales. Let US
examine it this morning we find about
two-thirds of the scales destroyed. What
has done it Looking carefully we see
many individuals of the two-stabbed lady
bird IA smallish black lady-bird with
round crimson spot on each wing cover;
by watching these little we see them
work loose the edge of the mature scale
and eat the egg mass beneath. Here, what
is this homely, bristly, dark-broYn thing,
sluggish of motion, like some silurian
monster in miniature of bygone ages ? If
we watch it we will see it gathering up the
young seale-bugs and eating them as hog
does grains of corn. 1t is the larva of the
two-stabbed lady-bird Here on the rough
bark, around this knot, 20 of them have
secured themselves by the posterior end,
and have changed to pupa, from several of
which the perfect beetles are emerging;
here on the underside of this knot is a
cluster of their dark yellow eggs. The
larva of this two-stabbed lady walsh
CHiicoras 5iUuineris, is not so slender form
as all others, and is defended in the larya
and pupa state by being covered with many
black branching hairs or briars, its food
both in larya and adult state being scale
bugs and their eggs.
Here, what is this minute, dark-gra
half-globe We see slowly gliding around
amongst the scale-bugs? 1t is the brown
necked lady-bird, scynsnu8 nlarGtnisoits. As
1t moves around, every time it stops it
seizes young scale-bug, which IL eats With
evident satisfaction. Here we have its
dark-brown, quick moving larva, with an
appetite for young scale-bugs and eggs
like Falstafi's for sack. See this one root
up the edges of that mother scale and eat
her great clutch of yellow eggs; it seems to
eat lis own weight of them every few min
nteS, and here down near the ground are
dozens of pupa cases of adark-brown color,
from some OF which the brown necks are
just emerging. This is the smallest of the
lady-birds observed here, it being q scant
eighth of an inch in length. In Illinois,
We had at least one very much smaller, so
small as to be seldom noticed without the
aid of glass, and very slow of motion,
like the two-slabbed this preyed upon the
smallest of scale-bugs. All of these beetles
are good swift flyers
Hello What is this constant stream of
small very dark ants doing that are CON
stantly passing up and down the tree
trunk T? We had noticed them before, but
supposed they were going up among the
foliage TO milk their COWS, the Aphids, but
one passing beneath the glass, / saw that
he had a bright orange speck between its
mandibles Yes, every one as it passes
down, has in its jaws the eggs or the
young of a scale-bug. A constant stream
of them from morning till night, and SO
far as we know all night also. Now, my
good friends, how long can the scale-bugs
on this acacia tree Withstand the inroads
on their numbers by these three persistent
and ravenous enemies? Surely not long.
Therefore we are pleased to be able to say
that the seale-bugs must go; they are So
ing and going fast You may ask, if the
lady-birds are destroying them so fast, why
did not they do so before2 Simply because
some Of the best species of these most yalu-
able beetles were not here to destroy them.
Species new to this coast have been i'm
ported accidentally from the East, others
have been brought from New Zealand
Australia and other foreign countries. In
the past the scale-bugs haze had their
day, the future belongs to the lady birds
Orchard and Farm.
1D,.r>-r ,-r--,.o,,
j. ii. Flickinger, the well-known San
Jose fruit-grower and preserver, writes to
r. McGarvey, Of Ukiah, as follows:
Mr.. A. I. Hatch forwarded me your
communication, aud requested me TO answer
it. do not propose to give you the go
by, and you are perfectly welcome to what
i know Adopt curing dried fruits / viii
proceed to give you my experience Of the
last FIVE years.
Ny French prunes | dry as follows:
gather the prunes ripe from the trees
that is, by placing on the ground under
meath the tree a canvas Of sufficient size to
take in well the spread of the branches,
then gently shake the tree, and fruit that
is ripe falls TO the canvas. 1t is necessary
TO go over the trees every two or three
days, thereby you get only the ripe fruit
Immediately they are shaken from the
trees the prunes are dipped in solution,
boiling hot, made Of twenty gallons water
TO one pound American concentrated lye.
Dip sufficient to crack the skin; it may
take fifteen TO twenty seconds; then rinse
ia cold water. If the skin Of the prune
peels of, it shows that the solution is too
strong, or, more likely, you have allowed
them to remain too long in the dip.
After rinsing, Immediately spread on
trays and place IN the sun On your
dry ground, which should be perfectly
clean, no dust, and let them remain until
fairly dry, but not rafting dry. Now take
the properly-dried pruEes 10 your store
house, and spread them on the floor, not
over two feet deep, and let them go through
the sweating process, which requires from
twenty to twenty-five days time. As the
prures go through this sweat they should
be turned with shovel, every two or three
days to equalize the progress of the sweat
ing process. After sweating, the prunes
are ready for market. then dip them In
boiling water, say one-half minute, pile on
the floor one foot deep, and pack the fol
lowing day.
If your prunes are gathered ripe and
yeu follow the above method of curing,
your prunes viii be of rich, dark color,
and highly favored. You require no
evsporator in your climate, other than the
sun, to make frst-class dried French
prunes, apricots, peaches and plums. My
trays for drying are made Of one by one
haif-inch redwood with redwood shakes
inserted, which makes the tray available
on both sides, and are six feet long BY
three feet wide. There is sufficient space
between the trays to admit of piling to-
gether, and / move my fruit to the dry
ground from the dip BY small car on
railroad track, piled up fourteen trays
high. In reference to experienced hand:
think you will find most any intelligent
man can carry out the above without any
difficulty.