The Lehi sun. [volume] (Lehi, Utah) 1913-1949, 1921-02-17
San Jose Scale

The San Jose Scale is the worst
pest of the orchards in Utah County
Tor 1t Will kill young trees in two or
three years and old ones must be
sprayed annually to keep II in con
troll. SO terrible is the attack of this
pest that 1t often kills tees or shrubs
before those unfamiliar with 1t detect
It's presence. II also feeds on the
fruit
At this time of year the scales are
found on the branches and twigs,
which, when badly infested have a
rough ashy gray appearance. Be
meath these scales are tiny yellowish
soft juicy insects with their ,beaks in
serted In the barks of the trees and
sucking the sap therefrom during
growth.
The female scale is small and cir
cular varying from whitish to grayish
and blackish I'm color according to the
stage of development with a yellowish
or reddish convex nipple. These fe-
males become matured In the latter
part Of April or first of May and about
month later begin giving birth to
living young and continue to do so
TOT ABOUT SIX weeks.
These young scale run around for
few hours then thrust their beaks in
to the bark or fruit and II females do
not move again, but lose legs, eyes,
and head except sucking beak.
White waXy filaments are excreted
which in two days entirely covers the
body as scale, for protection. They
are carried about = by wind, birds,
| other insects, etc.
At Washington ID. G. II has been
estimated that the progeny OF a single
female would number 3,216,0S0, 400
in one season II all offspring survived.
They keep on producing offspring
until stopped by freezing. At Wash
ington there are four and five gener-
ations a year.
The males are seldom seen as they
have wings and move about mostly at
night.
II feeds mostly on all our common
fruits, such as peach, pear, plums,
apple, ounce, apricot, bush fruits, will
lows and shrubs, but not so much on
cherries
II is useless to attempt to destroy
this insect during the growing season
without injury to the tree. There
fore IL is absolutely essential to spray
during the dormant season. The
willows or Seeding fruit trees along
creek beds, river bottoms, canal
banks, fence rows, or corners, and
fruit shade trees, which are never
sprayed or cut out furnish an ideal
incubator to give fresh start of this
pest each year so that II Ia essential
for the fruit grower to spray annually
to keep IL In check and see that his
negligent nelghbors with a few un.
yielding large apple trees or home
orchard do likewise.
Lime sulfur has long been the com
monty used spray and should be ap-
piled at the rate of / gallon liquid
commercial Lime Sulfur to gallons
OF water, II trees are at all badly in
tested trees. Miscible oils such as
when applied at the rate OF go pounds
to the 200 gallon tank on badly in
tested trees. Miscible oils much as
fscalecide are also very valuable in
cleaning up the scale and some other
troubles such as red spider and UNI
Matched eggs of other insects, blister
mite, etc, but should be used only
every third or fourth year with Lime
Sulfur the other two or three years
between.
Large non productive fruit trees
seedlings willows and other useless
breeding hosts should be cut out and
destroyed as rapidly as convenient.
HEBER J. WEBB,
County Inspector
-O