The Record. (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1902-1904, 1903-03-20
AN INTERESTING
COMMUNICATION
The San Jose Scale, and
How It Can and Should
Be Exteru1inated.


cation is kindly furnished The RECORD
by Prof 5. b. Doten of the State Uni
versity:
This destructive insect pest is now
common all over the United States,
and it is greatly feared by orchardists
in every locality where 1t occurs.
This is because it very often goes un-
detected until the trees are completely
covered with ii and seriously injured.
In Western Nevada the scale is now
well established. On the Truckee
Meadows great many trees, especial
ly pear and ppls trees, arc dying, ans
many more have been killed by it and
cut down.
The purpose OF this article is to tell
how ths scale may be detected and
destroyed or successfully hsld in check.
In Bulletin No. 2S of ths Nevada
Experiment Station, Prof. Hillman
gave the following excellent descrip-
tion Of tina Injurious insect: "lhs In
diyidual scales are .rnall, the largest of
them being less .hsn ous-twslfth of an
inch in diamster In their most evident
form they appear a. nearly circular
scales in fixed position on the fruit,
leaves OF bark of the injured tree.
Where the infs.tat,on is Of long stand
ing, there is plainly evident on the
limbs OF the tree q scurfy, sshy grey
covering II sush surfaso is rubbed
with the thumb nail it gives out yell
low oily juice which comes from the
crushed bodiss.of the young scales
The grey scurf Oh thslbark is made up
of millions of tiny insssts sucking the
sap of the tree. Each OF these tiny in
seets is covered with a circular wsxy
shield or srals. When the tree has be-
come coated with scale its presence is
plainly apparent; but it is highly im-
portant to discover shs scale and de-
stroy il long before ID has become to
numerous and SO destructive This is
best accomplished In summer and in
The following way:
An infested tro bsars fruit and
young tviys more Or less covered with
purple spetks which chow very plainly
on light-skinned apples and pears.
These purple sPscks are like shallow
dents in The skin, and in the eenssr Of
each little dark eelored dent there is
tiny, grey scs!sd-inssct On the fruit
such spots show much more plainly
than on the twigx. IL is not an un-
usual thing 10 sss apples for -als which
are fsirls covered With these purple
dots ~ II At the fruit looks unsightly
and diseased
In fighting this psrnicious insect We
must keep 90 thing, in mind; First,
the fact that il is Al extremsy persis-
tent pe.s rsappsaripg every year unless
totally de.tro,sd, and, secondly, that
any solution sprayed on the bark
which i. strong enough " kill the scale
may eaAily injurs the tree. For this
rsasou ID 10 about ~ well TO cus down
those trsen which have been partly
killed by ths scale and to plant new
ones. Trees not so badly diseased,
however, can usually bs saved by
spraying Successful spraying caa be
done ouly when tho trees are dormant
and leaflssa in the winter or in tho
spring before any buds open. In sum-
mer spray strong enough to destroy
the scale lnsscs Will lnJurs the leaves
aud fruit. rress Ahould never be sprayed
for ths dan joss scale when in bloom
or Just before whom the buds arc opening
"A great many sprsys and washers are
used but one Of the beat is that pub
lished by the Orange Judd Farmer. II
is as follows
Good stone liss 80 pounds, flour Of
sulphur 10 pouads, aud 10 pounds som-
mon snlt for each SO gNllsns. Where
made in small qu.nsties and where n
steam apparatus is not available, big
kettle, feed cooker or hog scalder can
be used.
"Plaee all the sulphur Ia the boiler
with about i2 or 20 gallons water and
10 pounds lime. Boil this for about
an hour or until the sulphur is all
dissolved. Next slaks the rest OF the
lime with hot water ia another vessel
and add the salt to it.
when thoroughly dissolved add the
whole to the sulphur mixture and boil
briskly for about 50 miAutas. When
ready to use add enough boiling water
to make the so gallons. The cost will
not vary much, and should not exceed
1-2 cents per gallon any place. In
most places il can be kept below this
figure
This mixture should be strained