The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-05

/
. the provisions for his family, can sci
} enough to buy clothing and other arti-
cles that the farm does not produce
and his condition, so far as absolute
. comfort is concerned, is far superior &c
: that of nine-tenths of all the people II
: our large cities.
THE SAN JOSE SCALE.
How to Avert It's Introduction Into
This State.
The Alabama agricultural expert
} ment station has just issued a very
timely bulletin upon this perniclous
pest, and as it contains many practical
suggestions as to how to keep this pest
out of the state we copy largely from
the bulletin for the benefit OF Utah
fruit growers:
That this terrible pest of the orchard
has already gained a foothold in many
eastern and southern states is now an
.assured fact. Not only is the occur
renee a matter of vital importance to
every orchardist and nurseryman at
home on account of its deStructiveness,
but late laws (passed and Dending) IN
several states, relative to this insect,
will make it impossible to ship from
infested localities to those states. This
informing fruitgrowers regarding the
very serious nature of this pest, and
warning them that unless its appear
ance is carefully watched for, and I'M
mediate steps taken to destroy it, the
destruction of infested trees-Derhaps
whole orchards-will surely follow
KINDS OF TREES ATTACKED.
This scale has been found on most
of the fruit trees grown in the United
States. 1t will also attack currant and
! gcoseberry, and even the pecan and
English walnut. Some of its most de-
structive occurrences have been in
orchards of apple, peach, pear and
cherry.
APPEARANCE AND PART OF TREE
ATTACKED.
The congregated scales produce
! dirty whitish fiy-specked appearance,
usually on the bark-in bad cases also
on leaves and fruit. Although the scale
| is a very small one, yet the greyish,
scurfy appearance of the bark will call
attention to its presence.
HOW 1T IS DISSEMINATED.
! Probably the principal agent in the
distribution of the San Jose scale over
/ the United States has been nursery
stock. There should be laws in this
state, as there are already in some
others, not only compelling owners or
orchards to do all possible towards
graduating the pest where it occurs,
but prohibiting the transportation or
sale of infested nursery stock or fruit
in the state. Such a law should GER
talnly be put into effect at once, be-
fore the insect has spread beyond all
hope of control Some other states may
have abundant cause for extreme re-
greet that they did not enact the neces-
sary laws in time, for as ir.New Jersey
and Ohio the laws come too late to act
as preventive. Prevention in this
case is comparatively cheap-cure very
costly This matter is most earneslv
recommended to the careful attention
OF orchardists and legislators.
ITS DESTRUCTIVENES
Relative to the unusual destructive
ness of this insect, we cannot do better
than quote Mr.. L. o. Howard, govern
ment entomologiSt under whose direc-
ton it has been carefully investigated.
He says: There is perhaps no insect
capable of causing greater damage to
fruit interests in the United States, or
perhaps the world, than the San Jose,
or pernicious, scale. 1t is not striking
in appearance, and might often remain
unrecognized, or at least misunder-
stood, and yet so steadily and relent-
lessly does it spread over prac-
tically all deciduous fruit trees
trunk, limbs, foliage and fruit
that II. is ONLY a question of two or
three years before the death of the
plant attacked is brought about, and
the possibility of injury, which, from
experience with other scale enemies of
declduous plants might easily be ig-
Eored or thought insignificant, is soon
startlingly demonstrated. It's impor-
lance from an economic standpoint is
vastly increased by the ease with which
it is distributed over wide districts
through the agency of nursery stock
and the marketing of fruit, and the
extreme difficulty of DISCRIMINATING it
where once introduced, presenting, as
1t does in the last regard, difficulties
not found with any other scale insect.
The Los Angeles Horticultural COM
mission reported in 1890 that if this
pest be not speedily destroyed it will
utterly ruin the deciduous fruit inter
ests of the Pacific coast. It's capacity
for evil has been more than demon
strated since its appearance in the east
and it has been, if anything, more dis
2StrouS to the peach and pear orchards I
of MARYLAND, New Jersey and other
eastern ard southern states than in
California and the west.
We are, therefore. justified in the as
Se1llCH l0dL no more serious menace TO
the deciduous fruit interests of this /
country has ever been known. There /
is no intention here TO arouse unneces-
sary alarm, but merely to emphasize /
the Importance of taking the utmost !
precautions TO prevent it's introduction |
into new localities. and to point out !
the extreme necessity of earnest effort /
to stamp il out where it has already /
gained a foothold''
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
If scales of any sort whatsoever are /
found in the orchard, send samples to /
this office at once (see last page, for /
Identification. There are several scales 1
in the east which very closely resemble |
the San Jose scale, but which are not /
so destructive in character. This point |
should he determined at once. The or
chard should be kept free from scales,
but in no case is the necessity for i'm /
action so urgent as with the
San Jose scale.
If tree is badly affected. cut it
down at once and burn. If the top only
is affected, cut off and burn, treat the
trunk remaining with Whale-oil soap,
and retoD by grating. (Webster.)
Otherwise the best and simplest rem
edy in the east is probably a winter
wash OF whale-oil soap. This should
be thoroughly applied at the rate of
two pounds dissolved in one gallon of
water, with a spray pump, brush or
swab once or twice during the winter
swell in the spring. (Webster and