The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-21
KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR OAKS
PROF. LUGGER SOUNDS a
WARNING NOTE

=" opeh winter.
Inside Of three weeks thar. ,,,u
no leaves on our oak trees" said Prof
Lusser' OF the agricultural school, yes
terday. The leaves of all the trees arc
just now covered with thousands of
eggs, and in short time the oak worn,
on the leaves 10 "o'A
In the yards in the cities wbar,
tnere are oak trees care can be taken
OF the leaves at once, and the trass
saved, but In the outlying distr,cts
VINO is to care for them? Every enc
VINO cares for his oak shade should
at once look out for this pest and kin
the eggs before they hatch The only
way to do Is to examine the trees en-
far as possible and pick off the leaves
on which these clusters of eggs can he
found. "
BLACK BEETLES PLENTIFUL.
have had nine letters from ST.
faul since my return from Willmar
tuesday, complaining about the black
oeeties, which are very numerous. They
are a domestic insect, and their great
number this year is the result of the
open winter. We, ourselves. are In
piaihe Tor the presence of this bug. The
ri-ouein way or caring for flour and
~ ~ epdreo food caused their breeding
1hey are flour beetles and feed in fiour
anu grains, and the modern flour hins
WHICH make work easy for law neo
pie are sure to breed them. CRACKER
boxes are another favorite habitation
I It them, and they are found in ouan-
titles in flour mills The worm Ia Ugh,
brown, stiff and glossy. and is raised
by bird fanciers for food for singing
olfos, not canaries, however 1t is the
only insect food for Gagged mockine
birds, red birds, etc., to be had in the
winter. There is nothing very obtec-
tlonable about the beetles. They are
International. The black ones are the
American species, and the brown ones
come from Europe.
THE TREES AT WILLMAR
About the trees at Willmar? Well.
unless many of them are cut down.
nothing will save them. The people
there seemed to have planted their
trees especially for the insect which
is now destroying them They SELECTED
rapid growing trees, such as box Ell
GERS, soft naples. willows. etc. and
instead of setting them twelve to four
teen feet apart they are put within
SIX 1eet OF one another. In fact, thew
make hedge, and no sunshine strikes
tnem on the sides. Growing so closely
they are in a very unhealthy coudi-
tlon. Three years ago one of the in
sects now killing the trees was sent
me as a curiosity. Last year every
one saw them on the trees, and this
year they are covered with them. To
cut the trees down is the only rem
edy, and this they do not want to do.
Ihe district infested is in WilImar and
for ten miles around.
The insect is the scale insect. which
covers the trees with a cottony SUBJ
stance which is what the people were
fighting when I got there.
SIGNS OF THE SCALE. -'"7
During the first half of the sum-
mer, many kinds of trees, but most
frequently the naples and box elders.
are seen to be infested with the above
scale. Upon their branches small tufts
OF white cottony matter can be seen.
which, when touched, are found to be
STICKY, drawing out and clinging to the
lnger like spider-web. This material
is the egg-mass of the cottony maple
scale. By investigating more closely.
at one end may be seen a brown or
black, saddle-shaped. leathery disk.
about one-eighth of an inch in diam
eter, usually bearing some wrinkles on
its back. This disk is the body of the
insect which sscreted the white mass
of fibers containing from 1000 to 1000
small pink eggs. The young lice emerge
from the eggs during the late part of
June or early in July and are quite
active for time, running about freely
and may at that period be carried from
place to place by various means. Soon,
however, they settle down and inserr
their long thread-like beaks in the soft
bark or leaves of the plant
The body of the scale-louse is soft
and quite fiat, clinging closely to the
surface of the tree, and so closely re-
semblng it as to be almost indistin-
gui<hable from it. A waxy and water
proof coat is gradually formed over
its skin. The male Is considerably
smaller than the female, and in a few
weeks ceases to grow, becomes sta
tionary and changes to a pupa inside
the larval skin, which is covered with
a thick coat of wax. The males emerge
in August or September, and after hav-
ing populated. soon die. The fortified
females, however, continue to grow I'M
til autumn, when they migrate to the
twigs and remain dormant over winter
In the spring their bodies become con-
vex and the eggs are rapidly develop
ed. These are laid from the middle of
Nov or the first cf June till into July.
Recommendation diluted with
water in the proportion of one part of
the emulsion to about fifteen of water
Is the most effective remedy and should
be applied late in May or early in
June. when the young are Matching
and still protected by a waxy scale.
Many insects prey on this and other
species of scales at sta ges of their ex-
iStencs. The most effective ones are
the numerous species of bugs,
which consequently always are pro-
tected. The English sparrow. besides
it's other bad qualities. is in the habit
Of izin
line its nest In doing so the insect is
carried about from park TO park and
new trees are constantly being infested
by this means.
"a meeting of the city council at
Willmar was called, and I explained
the nature and cause of the insect to
them, and urged them to tale inmedi-
ate action, to buy machines for getting
rid of it. and to hire men to do the
work. In the evening a meeting of the
county commissioners ard citizens was
held, ard ] spoke again and talked
bugs until they were all crawling them
selves.
THE WORM IN THE WHEAT
'"The worm which has gotten into
the wheat this year is also result of
the open winter. and is so unknown 1
have no good specimens of the moth.
It is called the gortyno nitela, and is
a small group of boring cut worms. 1t
has infested the currants, roses and
other plants, as well as the wheat. and
its one redeeming feature is the fact
that. when it outgrows the wheat
stalk. it eats the weeds. 1t has no
English name and has never infested
our grains before.
PESTS FROM DAKOTA.
'oThe grasshoppers did not trouble
-, fo,,,oore co much uaor