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Show ventive of fungus diseases, as cure leaf in peaches, shothole fungus in apricots, and is also useful for apple scab and pear blight. feet or legs or on their bills. Sometimes Some-times they are carried by ants, and if the trees are close together they will pass from one to the other of their own accord. The scale saps the life of the tree, completely destroying de-stroying it and rendering it unfit for anything but the brush pile. It has a jointed beak, which pa sses down into the wood and takes up the sap. "Not only do they infest the trunks and branches of the trees, but they are found on the leaves and fruit as well. When they are abund ant on the fruit, it is destroyed or rendered worthless, though the fruit appears sometimes with only a purple discoloration around a single scale. They do not usually begin active operations Until early in June, and they pass, the winter in a practically, prac-tically, dormant condition. Apple, pear, plum and cherry trees are the quickest to be attacked, but other fruit trees, currants, gooseberries and rose bushes are sought for when the supply of fruit trees gives out. . ..." '.'There , are various Insecticides recommended, but so destructive is the pest, the best way. of getting along w-Uh, the ti is nL Mk3tave-km at all. , To this end we should have a law, and one is already prepared and is now in the legislature for consideration, providing that no nursery stock afflicted with the San Jose scale shall be allowed to come into or be sold in the ' State, and requiring certificates of inspection from sellers of nursery stocks showing show-ing that their nurseries have been , inspected and are free from the, pest." FIGHTING THE SAN JOSE SCALE. SAN JOSE SCALE. A New Insect Fatal to Fruit Trees-How Trees-How to Fight It. As many of our fruit growers and orchardists may be importing trees from nurseries outside the State this spring, a word of caution may not be amiss regarding the danger now existing of introducing the Sari Jose scale into our orchards. This is one of the most formidable insect foes which now threaten the fruit ' industry of the State, and while almost al-most impossible to eradicate when it once gets a foothold, its introduction introduc-tion may be prevented, with care and . the adoption of heroic measures, whenever it first makes its appearance. appear-ance. In the March number of the Minnesota Horticulturist, Prof. Otto . Lugger of the Minnesota- agricuU '"'.v tuiral experiment station has the ". . ... following tcsay 6i Cthis : insect ."This insect is as much to be v - dfeaxied'almost, as the grasshopper; - V"" certainly more to be dreaded than the chinch bug, and you know what that scourge means to Minnesota." It is known as'the San Jose scale, a deadly foe to all manner of fruit trees, and if it were introduced into this State, the extent of the damage cannot well be estimated, for, though very tiny as an individual, taken in the aggregate it becomes a vast de- The scale is now, however, disappearing disap-pearing in some districts, and decreasing de-creasing in all, due to two causes persistent spraying and the work of a parasitic fly. Years of costly experiments ex-periments in fighting this pest resulted re-sulted in the discovery of the salt, sulphur and lime wash, which is now generally used all over California during the winter months on the San Jose and all other scale insects on deciduous trees. The formula generally followed for the preparation prepara-tion of this wash is as follows:. Put 10 pounds of lime and 20 pounds of sulphur in a boiler with 20 gallons of water; boil over a brisk fire for at least an hour and a half, or until the sulphur is completely absorbed, when the mixture will be of an amber am-ber color. In another vessel put 30 pounds of unslaked lime and pour over it enough hot water to thoroughly thor-oughly slake it. While it is boiling add 15 pounds of common salt. When the salt is dissolved, pour into the boiler with the lime and sulphur, and boil for another half hour; then add sufficient water to make 60 gallons. This must be used only when the trees are dormant, or it will destroy the foliage. It should be applied after pruning, all prun-ings prun-ings should be burned. If properly used, this wash will be found effective effect-ive against scale insects on deciduous decidu-ous trees, and is valuable as a pre- vesting power. "Fifteen states have already taken legislative action looking to an eradication erad-ication or a prevention of the pest. It is almost impossible to prevent its spread when once it has gained a foothold. It was first found in California, Cal-ifornia, whence it takes its name of San Jose. It Was carried in fruit or on shrubs of some kind to New Jersey, where it has already done much harm. It was not known in . California until about eight years ago, and no one knows . where it came from before it reached that land of fruits. "This scale is not a fungus growth, but a live animal, male and female, capable of vast reproduction, reproduc-tion, and one. scale may be a daughter, daugh-ter, a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother in one season. It derives its name "scale" from its appearance, a tiny particle not more than a sixteenth of an inch in diameter, and shaped with a crust or covering which makes it look like a scale. Sometimes they are a dull gray in color; sometimes darker in hue. They have a very businesslike business-like way of going about things, and when they have finished up a tree ' there isn't much left but the skeleton. "They may be carried from one tree to another by birds, who get the young and active insects on their |