Arizona republican., 1910-12-24

2S there is no danger providing tn,
 thermometer does not stay down any
 great length of time. If it goes below
 2S they consider it time to light theil
 oil baskets.
 At the conclusion of his talk MT. Gull
 bertson was asked many questions by
 the local orange growers. all ot which he answered fully
 MT. Essig was next introduced and
 opened his talk with the statement that
 an ounce of prevention was worth a 1 pound of cure' He gave a detailed discussion of what insect pests have ! meant to the California growers in the past. of the great difficulty they have
 had to overcome pests which at differ
 ent times have threatened to extermin-
 ate the citrus industries entirely. In California, MT. Essig stated that five
 scale insects with which the orange
 groves are generally infested cost the
 growers in the neighbOrhood of $I, ,OOO.-
 900 per year to keep in contIol-and
 this beside the cost to the state and
 county for the various horticultural
 conditions
 These five pests are the white scale.
 black scale. red scale, yellow scale, and
 purple scale.
 The white scale in the past had prov en the most deleterius, until finally a
 beetle was found which was imported into the groves and keeps the white scale entirely under control
 The black scale inhabits citrus trees. olives. oleanders and hops in particular. and practically all of the orchards i'm California are infected. A hundred thousand dollars per year is it's toll to the California citrus growers. Black scale is gradually becoming acclimated so that it will stand great heat, and this scale if introduced in ArizOn in sufficient quantities will undoubtedly become adapted to the conditions and live. The red. yellow and purple scales are in all Califrnia groves except San Bernardino county. These scales actu- ally kill orchard trees. They attack the fruit, the leaves and the twigs. They are hard to kill because of the gum covering which makes is almost impossible for fumigants to reach the live organism. It was at one time thought that these scales could not stand the hot and dry climate of River side, but now that they have become acclimated they do live and thrive there luXuriantly, and will undoubtedly be able to do the same thing in the Salt river valley unless they have become adapted to the conditions here
 The citrus mealy bug, Mr Essig ss- .l of. It goes hand in hand with the white fly and the orange maggot. All counties in California south of Los An geles county are infected with this pest. The citrus red spider is a very frequent pest and when fruit becomes they swarm over the yellow oranges in such numbers as to give the fruit a red color. MT. Essig thought there were some of these spiders in the Salt river valley. Dr. Morrill,. however, stated that he had not seen any-in Ari- zona. In hot dry summers the red spider is more prolific. so that it Is thought the Salt river valley would be an ideal habitat should they become 
 In the prevention of insect pests California has spent untold sums of money. and MT Essig assured the growers in the Salt river valley that all of their experience was at the com mand of the growers here. if t would in any way help tO prevent the ex- pensive experiences of California. In the carly days of the California citrus growing the doors were wide open and every pest which infested any other country in the world was introduced into California. Some of these pests do not survive. however. and at the present time it is impossible to ship ! citrus tree into California from any other state or foreign country. The horticultural organization in California -Oday consists of the state horticultural and it's subsidiary organi- which are the county hOrti- cultural commissions Under the coun- ty commissioners are local deputies. | ,ne deputy being in charge of each dis trict. It is upon the local deputies that l he effective workings of the system 1 depends. In conclusion MT Esslg made | ! strong plea for the orange growers | ,f this valley to support our own hOr- | icultural commission in it's work. | While it may seem hard to growers | hat they cannot ship trees into this | heir will. yet for their own future | benefit it is absolutely essential that | insect poets be not introduced. Mir. Es- i jig stated further that the only real |
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