The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1907-04-04
sAUK CENTRE HERALD APRIL 4. 1907

,i.Ui1ougnness arc il the most prae
tical manner. and who consequently
get ,ne pest results. 1t is now largely
matter of getting the owners O,
small orchards to follow regular an
nual system of spraying their trees.
The presence of San Jose scale has
not only resulted in considerable in
crease of information as to remedies
and to improvements in the methods
itself, but it has been stimulus to
improved methods and more efficient
means of control of other common de-
structive insects, has demonstrated
the necessity of watchfulness against
the introduction of similar pests from
foreign sources, and has led to active
efforts in the direction of quarantine
and inspection on the part of prac-
tically all of the several states.
The control of the San Jose scale by
parasitic and predaceous enemies is
increasing all the time, but there
seems to be no likelihood that eli
Their such natural enemies as are now
in this country or those which may
hereafter be imported will ever dc
more than merely lessen the abund.
ance of the scale. In other words,
from past experience and from large
acquaintance with other similar scale
pests it is extremely improbable thai
even under the most favorable
cumstances will such natural enem.G.
reduce this scale as much as wouG
"r~ thorough treatment with the lime
sulphur wash or uJile. ouzli~.-.-l.
edy. The insect enemy CT tlie seal,
can only exi&* when it HIS scale feed.
hence u normal balance is very soon
reached in which the scale and natural
enemy fuctuate in relative abundance.
A complete determination of the scale
insect or host will rarely if ever be
accomplished, and there will probably
always be enough scale present to
cause spotted and unmarketable fruit.
This does not mean that such enemies
are not going to be helpful. They will
decrease the virulence and destruc-
tiveness of the scale, but to get clean
fruit it will probably be always nee
essary to spray. A very few scale on
a tree will cause spotted fruit even
when they may not be abundant
enough to do the tree itself material
injury. The fact that large, sue
culent scale insect like the fiuted
scale of California has been controlled
by ladybird enemy does not neces-
sarily allow one to hope for the same
result with the San Jose scale. The
ladybird and ether enemies intro
duced into California to control scales
similar to the San Jose scale have not
succeeded in the same measure at all.
In brief, therefore, the San Jose
scale must be recognized as a perma-
nent condition to be met in the growth
Of deciduous fruits. The greatest care
should always be taken in the pur.
chase of nursery stock to see that it
is absolutely free from infestation,
and preferably also that it carries with
it certificate of fumigation. Or
chards should be sprayed according to
well-established methods annually as
soon as the first sign of infestation is
found. Fruit growers and others in
terested have come to accept this
conclusion and are facing the San
Jose scale problem as one to be regu-
larry dealt with, as with other estab-
lished insect enemies of fruits. The
range of food plants of this scale is
so great that local determination is
out of the question, and it is recog-
nized as useless to destroy orchards
or new stock because of slight infes-
tation. The San Jose scale will have
so gained foothold on many orna-
mental and wild plants that such de-
struction CT orchards would be OF no
avail.