if applied lightly with a brush to the more hardy plums, pears, and apples, especially the latter, it can be used safely, especially if the trees are cut back to trunks and bases of limbs. In the case of the apple I feel quite encouraged, believing that if used sparingly and evenly during winter and while a low temperature prevails it will save many trees that otherwise would have to be destroyed.

After the publication of his September, 1897, circular, Professor Smith prepared a bulletin entitled "The San Jose Scale and How It May Be Controlled," which bears date of November 27, 1897, but which was not distributed until late in January, 1898. The two following paragraphs from this bulletin summarize his present views:

Apple, pear, quince, plum, cherry, peach, and a large variety of other trees were sprayed in August, and even the nursery trees came through the ordeal in safety in almost every instance, while in no case was any large tree killed or even seriously wounded. In one instance bearing Kieffer trees were sprayed in July and September and given heavy doses, with the result of killing only a few water sprouts.

The essential points to be regarded in the application of kerosene are the finest possible spray, the completest and thinnest possible coating over the entire surface, and weather conditions favoring rapid evaporation. The trees themselves should be dry. Any departure from these suggestions may cause injury, for I wish it distinctly understood that kerosene improperly used is fatal to plant life.

Elsewhere he emphasizes the desirability of a more perfect atomizer than is now on the market, since the kerosene should be applied in the form of an almost impalpable mist. All trimming should be done, according to Dr. Smith, at least a month before kerosene is applied. A clear dry day should be selected, so that the kerosene may evaporate rapidly. The trees themselves should be perfectly dry. If he were confined to one application only, he would select September treatment with kerosene as most likely to be completely effective.

Mr. H. N. Starnes, of the Georgia Experiment Station, in an excellent bulletin published in October, 1897, quotes Dr. Smith and Professor Webster and announces the fact that he has arranged a series of tests in different parts of the State, but gives no results. His remedial recommendations for Georgia districts are condensed in the following: "Two applications of whale oil soap (2 to 24 pounds to the gallon, warm) a month apart in the fall-say the middle of November and December, respectively-followed by several kerosene sprayings (1 part to 15) at intervals of two weeks in the spring." The kerosene sprayings recommended are made by means of the mechanical mixture of kerosene and water with the "Weed kerosene tank."

In North Carolina pure kerosene has been used to some extent. Prof. W. F. Massey, of the State Agricultural Experiment Station at Raleigh, informed the writer under date of January 10, 1898, that spraying with pure kerosene has destroyed the San Jose scale in more than one locality and no harm has been done to the trees. At Fayetteville, in a nursery where there were two or three affected trees in the winter of 1896-97, the owner is said to have sprayed the whole collection with kerosene when in leaf in May and did not kill a tree.

From this rather full testimony (and more might be adduced from

recent bulletins and correspondence) it becomes at once evident that too little weight has been given to the possibility of the use of pure kerosene upon living plants-its insecticide qualities not having been doubted-and that the experiments of Professor Webster's correspondent in 1895-96 bid fair to lead us to important results. It is true, as was pointed out in Bulletin No. 3, that Matthew Cooke as early as 1882 reported the successful use of coal oil for the San Jose scale, although in the same year (Ann. Rept. U. S. Dept. Agric., 1881-82, p. 208) he shows that in one orchard all peach trees were killed by its use and that many young apple orchards had been destroyed. Also in his well-known book on "Injurious Insects of the Orchard, Vineyard," etc., he publishes the caution, under the head of "San Jose scale," "Beware of mineral oils."

To Dr. Smith, however, must be given the credit of showing the best way to apply the oil-the only safe way, if there be a safe way. His latest publication (Bull. 125, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.) shows how guarded we must be in applying kerosene, and from one point of view it is a pity that his original circular of September, 1897, did not emphasize to a greater degree these safeguards, since it undoubtedly encouraged work by which hundreds of trees have been destroyed. As an instance, we may mention the case of a North Carolina correspondent, who, having seen the newspaper publications of the kerosene method in September, 1897, and having found the San Jose scale scattered more or less over an entire orchard of 400 acres of peach trees, sprayed with kerosene pretty thoroughly all portions of the infested trees. The result was that on January 10, 1898, he reported to this office that at least 90 per cent of the sprayed trees were dead. The correspondent was much discour aged by this result and was inclined to think that the only remedy is to dig and burn the trees. It is from such experiences as this that we have decided not to recommend the pure-kerosene spray as the result of anyone's experience without first advising the individual fruit grower to experiment in a small way and determine for himself by experience in his own locality and under the local conditions which exist there whether he can use kerosene to advantage. This warning will not be necessary, perhaps, in the case of men of reasonable caution, but it is evident that there will be many who will need it. Mr. J. H. Hale, as an example of the former class, informed the writer in conversation on February 9, 1898, that in spite of what had been written he intended to conduct careful experiments on a small scale, both at his Georgia and Connecticut places, wisely deeming that the details of a process which might be successful in portions of New Jersey might not be identical with the details in Georgia, and that here again, with conditions varying from those in Connecticut, identical results might not ensue in the latter State. In other words, if the writer were a fruit grower he would experiment for himself with the kerosene and upon his own individual results he would base his conclusions.

AUTOMATIC MIXTURE OF KEROSENE AND WATER.

Previously published objections by this Division to the use of apparatus for automatically mixing kerosene and water have been based on the fact that careful trials of the early constructed machines showed that the oil and water could not be sprayed with uniform regularity as to percentages of the ingredients. Late improvements, however, have largely done away with this difficulty, and there are now machines on the market which accomplish the desired result with reasonable efficiency. These machines are coming into some use, and Mr. Gould, of the Cornell Station, does not hesitate to recommend an automatic mixture of 1 part kerosene to 4 parts water, which he has determined will not injure foliage of Cornus and Pyrus in June and July at Ithaca, N. Y. In the same way Professor Starnes, of Georgia, advocates the use of the automatic mixture 1 part kerosene to 15 parts water.

EFFECT OF WINTER WASHES UPON BLOSSOMING.

The experience of the past two years has shown that most strong winter applications of irsecticides, especially of whale-oil soap and resin wash, may have a more or less serious effect upon the blossoming of the tree. Reports to this effect first began to reach us from fruit growers in the vicinity of De Funiak Springs, Fla., one of the earliest localities where the scale was found in the east, and a little later our own experience in Charles County, Md., verified this result. The experience of Captain Emory, in Kent County, Md., showed that spraying in the fall with strong whale-oil soap solution invariably reduced the number of blossoms to a very light percentage. Captain Emory informs the writer, however, that in spite of this destruction of the great majority of the blossoms his trees bore nearly as full a crop as he would desire. He was convinced, however, that late fall spraying generally produced this result. The experiences of others coincide. Spring spraying, however, does not produce such an effect upon the fruit buds. When they have once begun to swell the action of the insecticide does not seem to be strong enough to seriously affect them. Thus Dr. Smith, in his last report, advises that winter treatment should not be made until February and may be delayed until March. This advice we are quite inclined to indorse. Sprayings have been made when the tree was actually in blossom without injurious effect upon the crop.

PREPARING THE TREES FOR TREATMENT.

The important point should be borne in mind that in the majority of cases the trees must be prepared for insecticide treatment. Trees badly infested should always be severely pruned. This process renders the insecticide application always much more efficient. It is true, however, that pruning the trees to a certain extent, and thus reducing the density of the foliage and the amount of shade, renders the conditions

more favorable for the rapid development of the scale insects, since experience has shown that the scale flourishes best in dry, warm weather, and that wet weather and moist, heavily-shaded localities retard its development. The whale-oil soap may be used in accordance with directions previously given with a reasonable assurance that above 90 per cent of the scales on the tree will be killed by a thorough application. It seems certain that with careful usage pure kerosene may be applied with safety to trees of a certain age, with the possible exception of peach, but, as heretofore stated, each fruitgrower must experiment first in order to be certain that he knows how to apply the insecticide. The trees should be carefully watched after the treatment and on into the summer, and whenever crawling larvæ are found an application of kerosene emulsion or of the mechanical mixture of kerosene and water should be made in case the owner has not found the secret of safe application of pure kerosene. This application may have to be repeated later in the season.

A PRECAUTION IN DESTROYING RUINED TREES.

There is an important fact connected with the life history of the insect, to which particular attention must be called. On young trees the scales seem to extend not only to the surface of the ground, but even beneath the surface, so that in destroying a badly infested tree it is necessary not only to cut it off close to the ground, but to grub up the roots. Professor Webster tells me that a number of times in his experience where trees have been cut off below the surface of the ground, young shoots which sprung up afterwards were found to be covered with the scale, and Dr. Smith records a similar instance in his report for 1897. Professor Webster, in fact, records in "Entomological News" for December, 1897, an instance where a tree was cut off from 6 to 8 inches below the surface of the ground and scales were found on the young shoots which came up subsequently. He thinks that perhaps ants carry the young scale insects below ground.

OTHER REMEDIES.

As a matter of course, a certain amount of experimentation has been carried on by individuals with remedies other than those here mentioned and with mixtures already experimented with, as indicated in Bulletin No. 3. None of these, however, have shown sufficiently good results to necessitate detailed mention. The most successful experiment with a new substance which is known to the writer was tried by Mr. L. A. Snow, of Tifton, Ga., who sent to the office at the close of the year 1895 twigs of trees which he had sprayed with hot water. Examination showed that the scales were all killed except 6 larvæ on one twig, 2 females and 3 larvæ on another, and 1 female and 1 larva on a third. All of these living individuals, however, had been protected by buds or by scales.

LEGISLATION.

In Bulletin No. 3 we published a section on the subject of legislation and one on the nursery question. Since that time several States have adopted laws governing the traffic in nursery stock and also dealing with occurrences of the scale in nurseries and orchards, while interstate commerce in nursery stock is perhaps to be governed by the provisions of a national bill now before Congress. In a bulletin about to be published (No. 13, New Series) the writer has brought these laws together, and no general consideration of them is necessary at this time. The State of Illinois, while it has not passed an insect law, has made an appropriation to be expended by the State entomologist in actual field observations against the San Jose scale. Under this appropriation Professor Forbes has had nearly all of the Illinois nurseries inspected and certified by agents of his office, and is making an effort by means of parties of operators to exterminate the scales in the orchards at infested points referred to in a previous paragraph. He furnishes the owners of infested premises with apparatus and competent men to direct the work; but requires from owners that they will destroy stock hopelessly diseased, and will provide the necessary insecticides and the labor for the preparation and operation. The State of New Jersey, on the other hand, while it has also failed to enact laws, will not allow its entomologist to give certificates of inspection, and the entomologist himself is of the opinion that the scale has come to stay and that all work against it must be done by individual fruitgrowers themselves.

Although the reader is referred to the new compilation of the State laws, it may be well to state that strong objections have been urged to certain of the provisions of most of these laws. The insufficiency of inspection certificates has been insisted upon again and again. An interesting symposium on this subject was published in the Rural New Yorker of January 8, 1898. The entomologist of the New Jersey Station, to whom we have just referred, Dr. J. B. Smith, insisted upon the insufficiency of inspection certificates and called attention to their occasional misuse by nurserymen. Mr. Lowe, the entomologist of the experiment station at Geneva, N. Y., showed that it was practically impossible for one man to examine a nursery of average size so thoroughly that he could be sure he had not overlooked the scale. By systematic inspection carried on through a series of years, however, the entomologist can feel reasonably sure of bringing to light the worst cases of such injurious insects as San Jose scale. In this way the purchaser can feel that he is protected to a certain degree. Mr. Lowe could suggest no better protection for the purchaser than inspection, and, when recommended by the inspector, fumigation, and especially dealing with reliable firms. Mr. F. A. Waugh, of the Vermont Experiment Station, believed that entomologists' certificates were of less value than the guaranty of honest nurserymen. His closing words