The record-union., 1897-11-20
WORK OF THE PARASITES.
HOW BLACK SCALE Is BEING
EXTERMINATED.
County horticultural Commission
ers Finished Their Meeting
Yesterday.

| AT the meeting of the County Hor-
ticultural Commissioners yesterday
morning a resolution was offered by
| William Barry of Niles, and adopted,
| thinking the daily press of this city
for the full reports published of the
proceedings of the Commissioners As
sociation
In answer to a question by Mr. Bar
ry concerning the brown apricot scale,
Mr.. Craw said it had but one genera
ton in year, just as the olive scale
| does. He showed number of SAM
| pies cf scale among them the frosted
scale found on many varieties Of de-
ciduOus fruit trees He said the best
| remedies for the brown apricot scale
are the soap or resin solutions, as it
has been demonstrated that for the
brown scale the lime, salt and sulphur
could not be used with any certainty
of success, although it is very effective
for the almond scale.
Mr.. Barry spoke on the most effective
means of destroying the black scale,
stating that four years ago he received
his first consignment of Rhizobius Ven
trails, the parasite that destroys the
black scale, and coloniZed it in the
northern part of Alameda County. He
had established eight breeding colonies,
which We're several miles apart, and
now there are millions of the RhiZobius
in the county. They destroy the black
scale thoroughly and now there is not
sign of smut on the peach or apricot
trees in his district. The orchardists
do not spray any more, so that the
beetles may be allowed to increase and
almost any one can now collect colo
nieS of them in the district for distribu-
tion. The first colony of RhiZobiuS
toomaombae. smaller beetles than the
ventralis. was destroyed by the owner
of the orchard in which it was placed,
he spraying his trees. A second colony
was secured and has increased remark
ably, and may now be collected any
where There is not an orchardist in
the county who is not enthusiastic in
his praise of the two beetles as black
| scale destroyers. The smaller beetle,
he said, destroys nearly all forms of
scale and aphis.
Robert Curtis of San Bernardino was
opposed TO the granting of blank GER
| tificates by some Inspectors, and said
he thought there should be some means
of redress for growers whose localities
had bene infected by trees and vines
shipped on blank certificate. He knew
of cases where Inspectors had provid-
ed nurserymen with number of blank
certificates that their stock was clean,
and the nurseTymen had shipped trees
fairly alive with scale into various sec
tions of the State and as the shippers
held certificates signed by the Inspector,
that their trees were free from infec-
ton, there was no redress.
Mr. Curtis said that no blank GER
tificates were issued in his county, the
Inspectors only issuing certificates after
careful examination of the trees to
be shipped. Every tree shipped from
the county has to undergo thorough ex-
animation and cannot be shipped until
a certificate that it is not affected in
any manner is secured.
Mr.. Craw commended the plan and
said it ought to be followed in other
counties.
Mr.. Curtis offered a resolution that
the State Fruit-growers' convention be
requested to urge Congress to pass the
national horticultural quarantine bill
now before it, and Secretary Stabler
was appointed a committee of one to
present it to the convention for action.
The meeting then discussed the pow
ers of County Horticultural Commits
sioners and inspectors with regard to
quarantining infected nursery stock,
and after adopting resolution request
ing the Southern Pacific Company to
continue its practice of notifying the
Commissioners of the arrival at their
depots of nursery stock, in order to al
low it to be inspected, the meeting ad-
journed