The record-union., 1893-07-22
RED AND BLACK SCALE.
The SteeI-COIOred Lady Bird Sur
prises Her Traducers.
Orchardists Now Believe the Austral-
ian Parasite VIII Prove
Sure Remedy.

A telegram from Los Angeles on the
18th inst says:
Professor Koebles Australian bug, the
orchus chalybeus, that met with such a
cold reception last fall, is likely to turn
the tables on its enemies and prove every
whit as valuable as the vedolia cardinal
Is. 1t will prove a sure remedy against
both the red and black scale. The steel
colored lady bird has been diligently say
lug nothing and saving wood since
Septem Der I'D OF last year, when a repre-
sentative assemblage of Southern Cali
tornla truit-growers passed resolutions in
A. t. kerchevePs orchard, southwest Of
the city, rejecting on its character as
I destroyer of the red scale. After that Sc
we're judgment had been passed the
further movements of the bug did not
interest the orchardists, and they went
home.
Nearly all of them have not, probably,
thought about the little fellow since that
time. But with persistence worthy of a
good cause the Australian visitor has
been arranging a denouement little an
ticipated by those who sat upon it so
heavily.
Late this afternoon George j. Dalton,
G. j. Grit1iths and reporter, who were
all at the kerchevaI place last tall at the
orange-growers' meeting, met at the
same place and inspected the orchard.
Inc result OF the investigation was sim
ply astonishing. 1t has been persistently
stated, and up to very recent date, that
the bugs placed i'll Mr.. kerchevaps trees
were all dead, and that the orchus chaly-
beus as a red scale parasite was gigantic
and total failure.
Although II was late in the afternoon
an inspection of the big lemon tree where
the colony was placed last year and upon
which the surviving specimens of the
bug were found only occasionally showed
they had taken a new lease of life. Upon
and under the leaves from top TO bottom
the steel blue bug was seen, and there
must have been over thousand on that
tree alone. There was still some red scale
on the old growth, but not anywhere
near the quantities it was last year, and
upon the new growth there was scarcely
trace. The lemons were bright, and
altogether the tree presented the appear
ance of healthy, clean tree.
But the investigation was not confined
to the lemon tree upon which the parent
colony had been placed. The surround
ing trees were examined, both lemon and
orange, and everywhere the lady bird
was seen. Upon every tree as far as they
were examined in the orchard there were
specimens of the orchus chalybeus. They
were not inert and sluggish, as when OBJ
served last fall, but were thoroughly
alive and alert, and the gentleman in
charge informed the visitors that during
the early part of the day movement of the
leaves of a tree would cause number of
them to fly up.
The bugs have not been watched. No
attention has been paid TO them, and all
by themselves they have been propagat-
ing and cleaning UP the red scale in the
orchard after they had been officially de-
clared to be extinct. OF course, the origi-
nal colony has long since passed away
and the present generations have become
accustomed to the country of their adop-
ton and are overcoming the obstacles
that were necessarily in their way.
According to his statements they have
but three generations a year, and each
female deposits about $50 eggs Now that
the bugs have overcome extinction and
are spreading all over the trees in the
Kercheval orchard it would seem that
Mr.. Koeble's modest claims for them are
being verified, and that they will yet
prove an etfectual foe to the red and black
scale pest,