OCR Text |
Show that many thousand are now in existence, exist-ence, though conditions are not as favorable fa-vorable for their development as in Japan and China, where the orchards with the scale are more uniformly distributed. dis-tributed. This ladybird devours the seals insect only, though it is expected that ultimately It may destroy other Injurious! In-jurious! insects, and it has been observed ob-served 'to eat as many as five or six scale insects a minute. Harper's Weekly. .' . . - Fighting a Pest. - The division . of . entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture Agricul-ture is waging an interesting war on the San Jose scale, a destructive insect which, brought to this country from China some thirty years ago, not only has flourished In California and the West, but during tbe last decade' has so extended its sphere of operations that It ,1s now found in practically all the Important fruit-raising districts of the United States and Canada. An official of-ficial of the department, sent to Asia to study the origin of the - insect, located lo-cated its home on the northern and northeastern frontiers of China proper, and found that tn this territory the scale . was held in check' by a small beetle known ss the Asiatic - ladybird (Chllocoru shrlllsX which devours tbe 1 pest at every possible opportunity. A number of these beetles were shipped to the United States, snd from ' twe specimens arriving in good health, several thousand - were; raised, so that for the past two ar three years a number num-ber of colonies have: been distributed to different orchards, with tbe result , - -. f . ' i - ; '- , - " ' - ' ' ' |