The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1899-12-21
WATCH YOUR FRUIT TREES.
Infested Nursery Stock Being Shipped In
20 the Stats-A Warning to All Inter-
ested In tho Growing Of Fruit

During the past few months an i'm
mense lot Of nursery stock infested with
TWO very dangerous insect pests has been
shipped into this state from eastern nur-
series. The state horticultural commits
sioner and the county inspectors have
been doing all they could to keep such
stock from being distributed before it is
thoroughly disinfected, bat az some of
eheimporters seem to be making every
effort to evade the requirements OF the
law 1t is important that all buyers should
be on their guard and receive no stock
that is not accompanied by a certificate Of
inspection showing that the trees have
neen duly inspected, as required by law,
since being brought into the state A
certncate OF inspection signed by an in
spector from another state is useless, for
IL Is an easy matter for INSCRIPTIONS
nurserymen to get certificate on a lot of
clean trees and then add any number of
INFESTED trees later, or in many other
ways unlawfully use this certificate to
cover trees 1t was never intended to
cover. Some of the most badly infested
trees In lot that was recently inspected
had upon them certificate of inspection
from New York inspector, the agent
claiming that this was sufficient evidence
that the trees were clean, but it required
only look at them to show that they
were badly infested with Woody Aphis.
The amount of damage that may be
done by this wholesale spread of such
dangerous pests can hardly be estimated.
Not only are the infested nearly sure to
be destroyed, but whole regions hereto
fore free from the pest may become in
tested.
The two insects that have been most
common on these imported trees are the
Woolly Aphis and the Peach-tree Borer
The presence of the Woolly Aphis is al
ways easily detected by the white flOccu-
lent substance which surrounds the in
sect. 1t may be found on any part of the
singly, but usually in small groups or
colonies. The presence of the Peach-tree
BOrer is harder to detect, and unless the
trees are examined very carefully the in
sect Is apt to go wholly unobserved until
it has done considerable amount of
damage. 1t is in the larval stage that
this insect Injuries the tree, boring into the
Here it feeds upon the tissues Of the
plant, mining its way between the bark
and the sapwood.
The state law provides that an inspector
finding any infested nursery stock shall
either destroy it or disinfect it, by fumi-
CATION or otherwise. 1t will not pay to
set out tree that is already weakened by
the attacks of the Aphis or any other in
sect. II, howevr, only few Aphis are
found and the tree is strong and healthy
they may be disinfected and used for
The usual and perhaps
the best methed ofdisinfecting such stock
is by fumigatlon with hydrocyanic acid
gas. The gas is such deadly poison,
however, that it must be used with the
-, Dot ha ,oofb01 hoinr
follows:
Having placed the trees in a tightroom,
or in tight box if only few are to be
treated, an earthen vessel is filled with
the proper amount of water and then the
sulphuric acid and potassium cyanide are
added in the order named. The room is
then kept tightly closed for half or
three-quarters of an hour. One ounce OF
potassium cyanide should be used for
every ono hundred cubic feet of space in
closed. The proportion in which the
chemicals are used is also important
The best results seem tO be obtained
when half more acid than cyanide and a
half more water than acid is used, thus il
room contains 1000 Gu. IT,, 10 OF. of pO-
tassium cyanide, Is or. of sulphuric acid
and 81 or. of water should he used.
The only way to get rid of the Peach
tree Borer is tO cut it out with Il knife anu
destroy it. If the tree is a valuable On'
and large enough to staEa the Treatment
this may he reSorted to, but as a rule il
would not pay to try to treat nurser!
stock i'm this way, SO it is recommended
that all such infested stock he burned.
It is to be regretted that So many of oui
farmers are lcd into buying this more
than worthless stock. stock that no nur-
seryman would dare place on the market
near his own home whore his reputation
was worth anything to him. If, how
ever. he could get rid Of this infested
stock by shipping it to some distant state
where he has no reputation at stake; and
especially if he can get two or three times
the value of good trees for it, he is going
to ship it even in defiance of the law, as
long as the people are willing to be inn
posed upon in this way. 1t is surprising
that intending purchasers will not ut least
make themselves acquainted with the
market value of any commodity before
investing a considerable amount of money
in it. Thousands of these badly infested
trees from eastern nurseries have been
sold i'm this state during the last year al
prices averaging two or three times as
high as that asked by local dealers for the
same kind of tree in tirst-class condition.
While it may be advisable at times to i'm
port certain kinds of nursery stock from
the east, such stock should be purchased
only from firms that will ship good, clear
stock and comply with the state laws tina
were made for the protection of our fruit
growing industry,
II. w. DOANE,
Wash. Agric. College and S. of s.