The herald., 1893-07-20
Prof. KOebele's Anti-Red Scale a
Big Success.
1t Will be as Valuable to Orchardists
as the Vedalia.
The Enterprising Little Immigrant from
Australia Disposes of All the
Charges Made Against
1t Last Fall.

diligently saying nothing and saving
wood since September 23d Of last year.
when representative assembhge OF
Southern California fruit growers passed
resolutions in A. f. Kercheval's orchard,
southwest of the city, rejecting upon its
character as destroyer of red scale.
After that severe judgment had been
passed the further movements OF the
bug did not interest the orchardists and
they went home. Nearly all OF tnem
have not, probably, thought about the
little fellow since that time.
But, with a persistence worthy OF q
good cause, the Australian visitor has
been arranging denouement little an
ticipated by those who sat upon it 30
heavily.
And the fun Of It is that 1t has not
herslded it's movements, has not been
watched. and ia no doubt laughing un-
der its steely-blue shell over the sensa-
tion il ia about to cause amongst
orchardist all over the state, wherever
the red scale has been existing in
fancied and fattening security.
Yesterday afternoon George j. Dali
ton, G. J. Griffith and HERALD re-
porter, who were all at the Kercheval
place last fall at the orange growers
meeting, met at the same place and in
spected the orchard.
The result of the investigation was
simply astonishing.
It has been persistently stated, and up
to O very recent date, that the bugs
placed iu Mr.. Kercheval's trees were all
dead, and that the orchus chalybens as
a red scale parasite was a gigantic and
total failure.
The gentle and amiable owner of the
place, who died several months ago,
would have rejoiced could he have seen
the change that had taken place.
Although it 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 we're only found occasionally,
seemed to have taken 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 q
thousand ON THAT tree alone. There was
was still red scale on the old growth,
but not in 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 appearance OF a
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
chaly ....,
They were not inert and sluggish az
when observed last fall, but were thor.
oughly alive and alert, and the gentle-
man in charge informed the visitors that
during the early part of. the day any
movement of the leaves of 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 propa-
eating and cleaning up the red scale in |
the Kercheval orchard, after they had |
been officially declared to be extinct.
OF fcourse the original colony has long
since passed away, and the present gen. |
erations have become accustomed to the |
country of their adoption, and are over
coming the obstacles that were necessa- |
rily in their way.
1t will be remembered that it was |
bug that it had not had fair show.
1t was said that the conditions under
which the colonies had been shipped to
Los Angeles were not favorable, and |
that it could not be expected that 1t |
would chow up very well in,the stern
struggle for existence.
While the other orange growers were |
willing to admit that such might be the |
case, still it was perfectly apparent that |
the ladybug had not done anything.
and nothing else could be said of it at |
that time but that it had failed to meet |
the expectations of Its friends.
Such was the tenor of the resolutions |
adopted. In fact the reference to the |
Kercheval orchard was as follows:
"a painstaking endeavor to find evi-
dence of the ladybir being established
resulted in finding larvae, pupee, beetles
and their eggs, but only in compara-
lively small number. A survey of sur
rounding trees failed to reveal any evil |
dence to prove that the parasites in the
beetle state had spread to any extent.
To all intenta the parasites have made
no appreciable inroads on the scale; not
even On the two trees on which colonies
have been liberated. Mr.. Kercheval,
who has watched the orchus chalybeus
very carefully, gives it as his opinion
that they have made no showing on the
red scale since their advent in his or
chard."
The resolutions concluded az follows:
"Mr. Koebele says it will require four
and possibly five years until they mul.
tiply in sufficient numbers to not only
stock all the orchards of Southern Cali
fornia, but free them from the red and
black scale. He estimates that by next
April there viii be sufficient to colonize
many orchards"
Since that meeting no further stten.
ton was paid to the lady bird, and what.
ever success they have attained has been
solely without fear or favor.
They have not certainly propagated
very fast, that is in comparison with the
vedalia cardinals. Yet that was what
Professor Koebele said about the steel
blue bug.
According to his statements they have
but three generations year, and each
female deposits about 250 eggs.
Now that the bugs have overcome ex-
tinction and are spreading over all the
trees in the Kercheval orchard, 1t would
seem that Mr.. Koebele's modest claims
for them are coming true, and that they
Will yet prove valuable foe to the red
and black scale pest,
The present status of the ladybird Is
certainty such as to call for a revision OF