Bull of N.Y. Museum V3-13 The San Jose Scale, Aspidiotus perniciosus and some other destructive scale-insects of the state of NY, J. A. LINTNER 1895

University of the S ta te of New York '

BU L L E T I N

OP'l'HE

New York St at e Mu seu m

Vol. 3

No. 13

April, I895

THE SAN JOSE SCALE, Aspidiotus perniciosus

AND


SOME OTHER DESTRUCTIVE SCALE-INSECTS

OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

BY

J. A. LI N.TNER, Ph. D., STATE ENTOMOLOGIST

ALBANY .

uNIvERSITY OF THE STATE OF NE.W YORK

mBm-Ap9S-2000 .

1895


Price IS cents


Regents
D. D., LL. D., Chancellor

D. D., LL. D., Vice· Chancellor

LEVI P. MORTON, LL.D., Governor
}

CHA.RLES T. SAXTON, LL. D., Lieut.-Governor
.

JOHN P .A.L~IER, Secretary of State
Ex officio

CHARLES R. SKINNER, M.A., Sup't of Pub. lust.
,

ANSON JUDD UPSON,

WILLIA.M CROSWELL DOANE,

In order of election by the legislature
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M, A., LL. D. ­
ANSON JU~D UPSON, D. D., LL. D.
WII~LIA.M: L. BOST'VICK, M. A.
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, 'LL. D.
CHA.RLES E. FITCH, LL. B., M. A.

ORRIS H. WARREN, D. D.
WHITELAW REID, LL. D. WILLIAM H. WATSON, M. A., lVI. D.
HENRY E. TURNER ST CLAIR McKELWAY, LL. D.
HAMILTON HARRIS, LL. D.
DANIEL BEACH, Ph. D., LL. D.
CARROLL E. S1'lITH
PLINY T. SEXTON, LL. D.
T. GUILFORD SMITH, 1\1. AI, C. E.
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l\fARTIN

I.

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1888 MELVIL DEWEY, 1\'1. A., Secretary

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U niversity of the State of New York

BULLETIN

011 THO

New York State Museum

Vol..3

N o. 13

April, 1895

THE SAN JOSE SCALE, Aspidiotus perniciosus
AND

SOME OTHER DESTRUCTIVE SCALE-INSECTS

OF TH E STATE OF NEW YORK


J.

A. L I NT NER, Ph. D.,

STATE E NTOMO LOGIST

ALBANY '
'm U YE RSIT Y OF THE STATE OF :NEW YORK

1805



CONTENTS

WHAT SCALE -IKSEC'lS ARE
267

So:iYIE DE STHUCTIVE S CALE - I~SE C TS OF THE ST A.TE OF NEW

yORK
269

The App le-tree Bark -lanse. . . . • . • . . . . . . ... . . . • . . . . . • • . • •. . . .. . . . • . . . • ~ (;9

T he Scurfy Bark- louse
270

T he P ine-leaf Scale-insect .. . . • . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~7 1

The White Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. •. • . . . . . . . •. • . . . . . . • . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . • :271

The Maple-tree Scale-insect
272

The Pl um-tr ee Scale-insect. . . . . . •. . • . • .. ... . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. , 273

T HE SAN J OSE SCALE . . .• . •••• • •• •. . . .• .. . . .. . . . . .• . . ... .. .. . .. .• ... 275

I ntrodu ction and Spread . . .• .. . . .. •.•• . . . • .. . . . . . '.' . . . . . . . •. . . . . • . . • . . • 275

Occurrence in the Eastern United State s ... . .. . .. . .. .. .•. .. . .. . . . . . . . . . • 276

276

I nvestigations by the U. S. D epar tment of Agriculture
In }Iaryla nd
277

I n F lorida ..... . . .. .. ... . ... .. . . ... ... . . . .. .. .. . . .... ......... ... .. . 277

Discovered in oth er States
278

The San J ose Scale in New York.. •.. • .. • . .. . .. . .. .. .. . . .. . . . .. .•
279

The San J ose Scale on Long Island
281

Condit ion of t he Long Island N urseries
282

The San J ose Scale in N ew J ersey.. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. ..
285

T he t wo Infested N ew J ersey Nurseries
287

Th e vVm. P arry Nu rseries
287

The Lovett Company N urseries
287

The San J ose Scale in Ohio
290

Description of the Scale . . • ... .. •.•... .. ... ... . .. .. . . .. . ..... . . .. ..... . 200

D escr iption of t he Insect
291

Its Lif e-history
292

Its F ood-plants, . . . . •. . • . • • • .. . . . . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . • . . . . . . 294

Spr ead of the In sect . . . . . • . . . . .. . . . . ... . . .. . .• . .. .. .. .. . .. _. . . . . . . . . . . • 295

Carri ed by Birds, etc
296

29(;

Dis tri buted in Nursery Stock
Protection fr om Infested Stock
296

297

P roposed Legislation ... ••. .. ..... .. .. . . ...... ' "
R emedies . .. . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . . . .. . . ... . . .. .. . .. . . . .• •. . . . . • .. . . . . 290

Winter washes ..... •. "

"
300

Hom e-made Wllale-oil Soap
'" .
.
301

The Winter Resin wash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . • . . . . . . 301

P otash wash. . . . • •. • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . .. 801

Summer washes.. ... . ... . . . . . . . . ... . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ... . . • •. • . . . . . . . . . . 302

" 302

Gas treatment
"..... . . ......• "
T reatme nt of Nurse ry Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . •. . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Bibliogra phy
:
303


34


'I

W H AT SOALE INSEOTS ARE
There is a large classof small insects- some, indeed most, of which
re quire a magnifying glass for their observation, which are part icu­
larly detrimental to fr uit-cult ure, yet from their inconspicuous
appearance usually escape notice until discovered when search is
made for the cause of the lang nishing condition or death of the tree
or shrub infested by them. Even then it is rather difficult to
believe that th e true cause has been found in what ofte n seems to
be merely an unnat ural roughe ning of the bark or a moderate
incrustation formed upon the surface.
Th e species more commonly met with (the Diaspinre) have
received the name of bad e-lice, f rom the appearance of th e young
as they travel over the bark for a few days aft er they are hatch ed;
and of scale-insects, fr om the seale-like covering secreted by the
insect and beneath which it is hidden afte r it has faste ned itself to
the bark. Scientifically, they, together with the " mealy-bugs," are
k nown as Ooccidre. In classification they have place in that division
of the H emiptera (a large order of suctorial insects) kn own as
H omoptera, the wings being of a uniform thickn ess throughout, and
thereby distingu ishing them from the other division (Heteroptera)
in which the front wings are thickened in their basal half to a degree,
often, approaching th e elytra or wing-covers of beetles. It is to
this last-named Di vision that the popular name of " bugs " has
become attached. All of the H emiptera are sucto-rial, and take
t heir food through a beak or proboscis instead of by biting jaws.
They differ great ly in their structure, and in modes of development ;
the lat ter, in some of the families, as in that of the Aphididee or
plant-lice, is of intense interest.

The development of the Ooeeidse is quite peculiar. The females
do not become perfected into winged creatures, but with age assume
the form of scales or galls, or of grubs covered with wax or powder;
or become degraded beneath their shelte ring scale into barely more
tha n egg-sacs, retaining only such simple organs as are essential to
th eir life dnring the reproduction of their young. The male, how­
ever, undergoes a complete tr ansformation and becomes winged, but
with only a single pair of wings of very simple structure (see in
Figures 3, 2 and 3 in Plates I, II and VII). It lives but a day


268

NEW YORK STA TE :llUSEUX

or two, dying speedil y afte r the f ulfilment of the purpose of its
being. I t takes no food, for in this stage it possesses no month or
digesti ve organs.
A few species of the Coceidre are of service to us, such as the
Ooocus cacti fr om which the valuable dye, cochineal, is obtaiue.l ;
the Oarteria lacca which excretes the mat erial kn own to us as shell­
lac; from anoth er species we have t he commercial article kn own 1'.S
china wax ; and still anoth er species occurring in Arabia produces
a solidified honey-dew called " man na," which " is th ough t by some
to have b een th e heaven-sent manna th at nourished the Hebrews in
their wanderings."
About 125 species of N orth American Ooecidre have been
described , and others are being brou ght t o notice each year, eith er
from having been pr eviously overlooke d, or recently intr oduced
from abroad. All of the m are destructive in proport ion to th eir

rapidity of multiplication and the greater or less economic imp ort­
ance of the plants that they infest.


SO~!E DEST RUCTIVE S OAU~ INS~;CTS OF NEW YORK

269

SOME DESTRUOTIV E SOALE-INSEOTS OF THE STATE
OF NEW YOR K
B efore proceeding to the consideration of the San Jos e scale,­
th e subject of th is bulletin, it may 1)13 of service to ref er bri efly to a
f ew other species which, although common in the State of Ne w
Y ork, and quite harmful to the trees that th ey infest, ar e still
al most wholly unkn own to the fru it-g rower and t o others who an i
suffering fr om their pr esence. F rom the figur es given of them,
they may at once be disting uished fr om the San J ose scale.
TIm

ApPLE-TREE BARK -LOU SE

The most common of these is the apple -tree bark-louse, shown in
Fig. 1 of P late I, in it s natu ral size as it occur s on th e bark of
trunks and limbs, often more abundantly than is represented in the
cut, completely covering th e bark and overlaying one another, and
lendin g an increased diameter to the infested twig. Th e color of
the scale is brown or ash-gr ay, nearly approaching th at of th e bark.
The f emale scale measures about one-twelf th of an inch in length,
of a long, usually more or less curved form, poin ted at one end on
which a magn ifier may show t he yellowish cast-off skin of the insect,

and rounded at the othc.. end. F rom its peculiar shape it has been
f requently written of und er the name of the oyster-shell bark-louse.
I t bears the scientific name of ][ytilas)J'is pomo?'ltm Bouche. The
male scale is of a consider ably smaller size, the sides nearly straigh t,
less rounded at the larger end, and of a brighter color. I t will sel­
dom be foun d associat ed with the females on the bark, as its natural
pl ace is on the leaves on either side, especially along th e midrib
(Riley), If a recent uninjured female seale be carefull y lif ted after
oviposition -at any time during the winter -from fifty to a hu n­
dred small, oval, white eggs ' may be found und ern eath it , which.
would ordinarily give out the young insect about the first of J une
in the latit ude of New York.
This destructive scale is far fr om being confined to the app le, but
may also be found on the plum, peal', raspberry, wild gooseberry ,
wild cher ry, red currant, sugar and swamp maples, white and black
ash, birch, popl ar, willows, linden, horse chestnut, elm, &0. It will
be seen from the above, tha t it has a large nu mber of host-plants.


270

NEW YORK STATE :MUSEUM
THE SCURFY BARK-LOUSE

This scale-insect, kn own to science, as OMonaspis fwrfUl"US
(Fitch), is quite common in the State of New York, where, it is
believed to be more numerous and more injurious than in any other
of the United St ates. I have recently seen an orchard of the
Kieffer pear, in Columbia 00 ., N. Y., in which the trunks, of fr om
th ree to four inches in diameter, were so thickly coated with the

scales that at a little distance th ey appeared as if they had been
whitewashed .
The scale, as it appears when scattered over the bark, and the
male and female scales magnified, are shown in F ig. 2 of P late I.
The young larva, the mature female, the male pu pa, and the male,
are represented in F igure 3 of the same P late, which has been pre­
pared under the supervision of Mr. L. O. Howard, of the E ntomo­
logical D ivision at Washington , to illustrate the insect in his article
on the " Scale Insects of the Orchard " shortly to appear, and kindly;
furnished for use in th is Bulletin by consent of the Department of
Agricult ur e in: adva nce of its own publication.
Dr. F itch has 'described so faith fully the appearance of a badly
infested tree and of the scale, that his account is transc ribed here­
with: "The bark of the limb [pear tree] was covered with an
exceedingly thin film, appearing as if it had been coated over with
varnish, which had dried and cracked and was peeling off in small
ir regular flakes, forming a kind of scurf or dandruff on the bark.
In places this pellicle was more th ick and firm, and elevated into
little blister-like spots of a white and waxy appearance, of a cir­
cular or broad oval form, less than the tenth of an inch in diameter,
abrup tly drawn out into a little point at one end, which point was
stained of a pale yellowish color and commonly turned more or less
to one side." This refers to the female scale, shown in enlarge­
ment at a of Figure 2, P late 1. Th e male scales, which usually
congregate by themselves (enlarged at d in same figure), are only
from one-fourth t o one-third as large, narrow, usually straight, three­
ribbed, and of a snowy-white color. The eggs found beneath the
scales are of a pu rplish-red color. T hey hatch about the first of
June.
This scale attack s the apple, pear, black cherry, choke cherry, and

mountain ash. I have recently found it abundantly on the J apan


SOME DESTRUCTIVE SCALE INSECTS OF N E W YORK

271

quince, P yrus japonica, in Washing ton Park, Al bany, -large plots
of which were being killed by it..
THE P INE-LEAF SC ALE -INSEO'P

This is anoth er white scale which is quite conspicuous on the
l eaves of the pine and the spruce on which it occurs. It at tacks
mainly t ransplanted trees, and had not been seen by Dr. Fitch,
when described by him, on those growing spontaneously in the
F orests. The foliage of a large nu mber of A ustrian pines (Pinu 8
A ~lst-riaca) growing in Washington Park, in A lbany, a few years
ago, was so thi ckly covered with the scales th at it was lit erally
whitened with their myri ads. Hundr eds could be count ed on a
single leaf. K early all of the infested tre es wer e taken up and
burned. Large numbers of the scales were eaten into and destroyed
by a little lady-bug, - " the twice-stabbed lady-bird," - and to the
abundant l)resence of this scale-eating insect, may be owing th e fact
that in late years the scale has been far less destructive (see Fifth
R eport Ineecte of N ow YO'l'7~ , 1889, page 266).
The scale is repr esented in Fig. 1 of Plate II, in natural size
upo n the leaves, and much enlarged, beneath. Th ey ar e of au
elongate oval form , of a pure white color with a waxy lustre, and
with th e conspicuous yellow cast skins resting on the smaller end.
Dr. Fit ch, in his Second R eport, 1856, has devoted a half-dozen

pages to the insect and its lady-bug destroyer.
THE

W IIlTE

SCALE

A troublesome scale fr equently infests conser vatories and house
plants, which may be recognized fr om t he repr esent ation of infested
leav es and the magnified scales shown in Fi g. 2 of Plate II.
The scales are white and are sometimes so abundant as to give a
whitewashed appearance to the trunks of the trees that they infe st.
It is kn own, in science, as A sp idiotue nO'l'ii Bouche. Its specific
name of n erii is drawn fr om the botanical name of the oleander,
N e'l'ium, which is one of its favorite food-plants. Ivy, when grown
within doors, is quite subject to its attack, and is liable to be killed
by it unless care is tak en to prevent the multiplication of the scale.
Professor Comstock rep orts having studied the species on the
following named plants: ACacia, magnolia, oleander, maple,

-.- --....-...-­


272

NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM

Yucca, plum , cherry, currant, E nglish ivy, and lemons from the
Mediterranea n.
The scale of the female is nearly circular, flat, whitish or light

gray, with the dun orange exuvire (cast skins) centr al 01' nearly so.
The ventral scale (as distiuguished from th e exuvire) is a mere film
applied to the hark. Diameter when full-gro wn, one-twelfth of an
inch. The male scale is snowy-white, slightly elongated with the
light yellow larval skin nearly centl'al - diameter one-half th at of
the male. It is distribu ted over all the Uni ted States, and over
much of Europe.
THE M AP LE -T R E E SCALE-IN SECT

Thi s is one of our largest scale-insects, and, at the time of hatch­
ing of the eggs in late J nne and early July, is more conspicuous than
any other found in this part of the U nited States. It is observed
more frequently upon the soft maple, .Acer dCisycaJpltm, than else­
where, but it is ofte n found inf esti ng grape\' ines where it is kn own
as the gral)evine bark-louse. It was described forty ;years ago as
Coccus innumerabilis - (now includ ed in the genus P ulvinaria)-­
the specific name app licable both to the myr iads in which it appears
in some localities and to the immense number of eggs produced by
the female: often a th ousand or more can be counted from und er­
neath a single scale. Fig. 1 of Plate III illustrates the scale as it
app ears when attention is usually drawn to it. It is then seen as a
whit e, cottony mass of f rom thre e-to nearly four-tenths of an inch long,
about one-half so broad, of a sub-oval form , bearing upon the nar­
rower end a brown scale darker at the 'marg in, somewhat flatten ed
down or bent upward near its middle to nearly a right angle, oval,
broader behind, where it is notched and apparently cleft for a short
distance on its middle: on the front is a medial ridge for about one­
fourth or one-third its length: it usually shows five transverse
wrinkle s or folds and about the same number of raised lines run­
ning outwardly on each side to the hinder marg in. A common

app earance of the adult scale is shown at b of Fig. 3 of Plate III,
and at a, b and 0, imm ature forms in Fi g. 4,
The white cotton-like mass, which is a characteristic of the genus
P 'ulvinari a, is a secretion thrown out by the insect for the protec­
tion of its eggs, and also of the young insects for a short time after
their hatching.
.


SOME DESTHITCTIVE SCALE INSECTS OF NEW YORK

273

In Fig. 2 of Plate III (after 'Valsh and Riley) the scales and egg­
masses are shown on osage-orange as .Leca'Il/I:U1J1 1J{ctCl?.-lrce, and on
maple as L. acericola, but both now referred to P. inrvu?J~era,bil'l~8.
This scale had become very abundant upon the maples in the
streets of Brooklyn in 1890, and was reported as having killed a
large number of the infested trees." In 1884, it was excessively
abundant and quite destructive over the larger part of the State of
Illinois. Further particulars of it, and available rernedies, luay be
found in the SixtliJ Report on th« Insects 0/ llew Yor~k, 1890, pp.
141-147.
'THE PLU~I-TREE SCALE-INSECT

In Plate IV, the plum scale is shown, - an apparently new and
destructive pllnn pest, which has during the past :rear made its
appearance in different localities in the State of N ew York, par­
ticularly in its western portion. Examples of it were received by
me on llIay 14th and 15th from Dr. Collier of the Geneva Agricul­

tural Experiment Station, and from O. :11:. Hooker and '!Y. C.
Barry, of Rochester. No record could be found of its previous
occurrence as infesting the plum, IT pon subln~~ting it to Prof. T.
D. A. Cockerell, of Las Cruces, N ew .Mexico, who has made special
study of scale insects, it was determined by him, with a possible
doubt, as Lecasiiurn. juglanclis Bouche. This determination has
not been accepted by some entomologists, while as an explanation of
difference of opinion in regard to it, it has been suggested that two
closely resem bling species are associated on the infested trees.
'I'he species of LeCClnil,l/171.J are large, conspicuous scales, as may be
seen covering the branch in the figure, approaching a half globe in
form, and in the season of reprod action, containing wi thin their
capacious bodies a very large number of eggs - a thousand, or it
Inay be two thousand or more, From their rapidity of multiplica­
tion they may prove very injurious to the trees that they infest, but
fortunately their size, and their tenderness during a portion of their
existence, exposes them to parasitic attack, and to destruction from
certain weather conditions. They are amenable to treatment with
kerosene emulsion, and to the methods which will be recommended
for the destruction of the San J ose scale.
~"(o Eighth

35

Report on the Insects oj New York, 1893, page 177.


NEW YORK STATE :MUSEUM

Prof. l\f. V. Slingerland, of the Cornell University Experiment

Station has made a study of this insect in the plum orchards of
Western New York, the results of which are published in Bulletin
83 of the Station - describing it, narrating its destructi veness, nam..
ing the few plants upon which it is believed to have passed from
the plum, its life-history, its natural enemies, and approved methods
for combatting it.
This scale has been found abundantly in some localities in Eastern
New Y ork : in Orange 00., it has been mistaken by some fruit­
growers for the San Jose scale, but from their great dissirnilarity in
a})pearance, there is hardly an excuse for confounding then).
The figure representing an infested plum branch is from a photo­
graph taken by the Geneva Experilnent Station, and employed in
illustrating a brief notice of the insect by Prof. S. lie Beach, in
GarcZen and Forest for July 18, 1894, from which paper it has been .
obtained.
In the preceding brief notices of some of our more common
scale insects, particular mention of the insecticides available for
their destruction and methods of application, have been omitted, as
those which will be indicated for use against the San Jose scale, will
be found equally serviceable against each one of them.


THE S s:N JO SE SOALE

275

THE SAN JOSE SCALE
The San J ose Scale - from the many different fruit trees th at it
infests, the rapidity of its multipli cation through its successive
broods during the year, and the short tim e in which it kills the

trees that it attacks - is justly regarded as one of our most 1)e1'­
nicious scale-insects. Its charac ter is indi cated in the specific name of
pernioiosue given to it by Professor Comstock when first described
by him in 1880, in th e R ep ort if the Commiesioner if Agrioult ure
for that year. He has writt en of it: "It is said to infest all the
deciduous fruits grown in California, excepting peach, apricot, and
the black Tartarean oherry.* It attacks the bark of the trunk and
limbs as well as the leaves and fruit. I have seen many plum and
apple trees upon which all the fruit was so badly infested th at it
was unmarketable. In other instances I have seen the bark of all
of th e small limbs completely covered by the scales. I think that
it is the most pernicious scale-insect known in this country."
Th e Los Angeles (Cal.) H orticultural Commission, in their rep ort
for 1893, say of it: "This pest, if not speedily destroyed, will
utterly ruin the deciduous fruit int erests of this coast. It not only
ch ecks the growth of the tree, but it covers the tree lit erally
entirely, and the fruit nearly as much so, and, if left unchecked, the
tree is killed in three years' time."
INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD

As with the larger number of our more injurious pests, the San
Jose scale is not native to N orth America. Where it originally
occurred is not known. It is f requently found upon plants
imported fr om J apan (Coqui llett), and also occurs in Chile and in
Australia. It is believed to have been brought into California in or
about th e year 1870. It first attracted the atten tion of frui t-grow­
ers at San Jose, in Southern California, in 18'73. In 1882 it bad
extended into all the fruit-growing districts of California, and had
entered Oregon and Washington. It is also found in N evada, but
when first observed there is not known. It is rep orted in one

locality in Id aho in 1894 (Aldrich), and as well established at Las
Cruc es, N ew Mexico (Cockerell).

* It has since been found on the peach, and apricot.


NEW YORK STATE UUSEUM.

OOOURREN OE I N EA ST E RN U N ITED STATES


It was quite a surprise when n ot long' ago th e discovery was
m ade th at this destructi ve insect had crossed th e continent and had
m ade it s al)pearance in the Atlantic States. Its first recogni tion was
by IIII'. L. O. H oward , of the Di vision of Entomology at W ash ing ­
t on, in Angust, 1893. A supposed fungus disease on pear sent
from Charl ottesville, Va., to th e D epartment of A grienlture and
sh own to Mr . Howard, was "at th e first gl ance rec ogni zed as that
scumge of western orchards, the San J ose scale tA spidiotu e jJer­
ni ciosue Oornst.)."
I N VE STI GATION S, ETO ., BY THE

U.

S . D EPARTlI1ENT OF A GRIOULT URE

During the au tumn, two of th e assistants of th e Entomological
Division, Messrs. Schwarz and Coquil let t, were sent to Charlottes­
vill e, to exam ine and report up on the infestati on. It appeared
fl'OI11 thei r examinations tha t it was limited in extent, being

almo st wlrolly confined to a pear orchard of abont a squa re acre in
area, but that it affected pear, peach, plum, apple, currant, rose,
qnince, go oscbcl'ry, and ras pberry, and th at it had already be en
present there for several years. It was subsequently learn ed tha t,
in an probability, it had been int roduced on nursery stock p ur­
chased f rom aNew J ersey firm . Mr. Hedge s, the owner of the
or chard, was of the opinion th at it had been bronght on curran t .
plants purchased i n N ew Jersey eigh t years pr eviously. lVIr. Schwa rz
r eported on the situation of the infested orchard, the plants attacked ,
other infested places ad join ing, habits of the scale, and its
ob served enemies. :111'. Coquillett repor ted upon the infested local­
ity, and the conj ectural sources of t he scale. (Ins ect Life, vi,
1804, pp. 247-254.)
Early in the spring of 1894, thro ugh the coop eration of the U. S.
D epartment of Agriculture and the Virginia State Board of
.A~ricultnre, :Mr. Ooqnillett, who had conducted very successf ully
most of the experiments in Calif ornia for the destruct ion of scale
insects by inclosing the infested trees with tents and fum igating
them with hyd rocyanic acid gas, was entrusted with the operations
f or destroying the scale in Charlottesvil le by the same method ­
always effective wh en properly cond ucted. It app ears in his report
submitted (loc. cit., pp . 32f-32G), that 326 trees an d shru bs were


T I:lE SAN J OSE SCA.L E

277

subjected to the gas treatm ent. Examination made a few months
t he reafter disclosed no 1iving scales.

I n J1£a1'yland.- I n March, 189-1, th e scale was sent t o the Divis­
ion of Entomology on peach twigs fr om a large peach orcha rd in
R ive rside, Charles 00" JUd. It was learned th at the scale had been
introdu ced in 1887 and l SSS, on peach trees purchased of a N ew
Jersey nursery. .Many of them h ad died, and n earl y all of those
that remained wer e f oun d to be thoroughly en crusted with the
scale, so that at the time of examination they weI''! being taken up
and d ~s tro'y e d. (Other trees to which t he scale had sprea d, ha d
bee n treat ed by their owner during t he preceding winter, apparen tly
'with go od results, with the three principal winter washes, viz.,
st rong kerosene emulsion ; li me, salt, an d sulph ur ; and resin wash.)
A trunk-washi ng in A pril with strong kerosene emulsion was su c­
cessf ul to the extent of killing 90 per cen t of the scales. Several
sprayings were made during the summ er "With different mixtures,­
some of th em un der dir ection of Mr. Ccquillet t-c- by which most of
the scales were killed. At the time of Mr. Howar d's report (from
wh ich most of these items relating to the eastern presence of the
scale have been dra wn) in August, it was th ought safe to say tha t
th e insects would be complet ely sta mped out in this locality by the
close of the year.
In F loridcb.- At th e same time of t he discover y of th e .Maryland
locality, the scale was also recei ved from D e F uniak Sp rings,
F lorida . A t the requ est of th e fruit-growers of th at section of the
Sta te, the Department of Agriculture sent Mr. H. G. Hubbard to
mak e exam ination and report. The insect was practically confined
t o the peach and plum, bu t occu r red also, in small nu mbers on
Kieffer peal'S, and on pecan and persimmon. Many tho usands of
trees 'wer e infested, an d nearly eve ry orchard within a radius of five
or six miles was more 0 1' less attacked. Arrangem ent was made for
th e Experiment Station of F lorida to undertake the work of destroy­

ing the scale, by going over all th e infested trees in the district with
five or six applications of the resin wash. If the weather should
p rove favorable for the use of the wash, there was reason to believe
"that th e nuisance will have been ahated by the close of the season
in F lorida, alt ho ugh exte rmination [from th e peculi ar conditions of ,
the infest ed locality] may not be found possible."


278

NEW YOR K STATE MUSEUM

D iscovered in other S tates.- In consideration of th e discovery
t hat some at least of the above-noticed infestations of th is pernicious
California scale, were traceable toN ew J ersey nurseries which were,
i n all probability, still serving as distributing centers f or the distri­
bu tion of the pest over nearly all the country, a Circular was pre­
pared by Mr. Howard, Chief of the Di vision of Entomology, U. S.
D ept, Agricu1., describing and figuring the scale and warning fr uit­
g rowers of its exceeding dangero us character, which was distribu ted
ill tho first week of Ap ril (1894) to all Eastern agr icultural news­
papers and to nearly 12,000 E astern fruit-gr owers whose addres ses
wore obt ained from th e pomologist of th e depa rtme nt. This eircu­
lar,-.,vith its excellent illustrations", descrip tion of its appearance,
explanation of its man ner of spreading, and th e best remedies for
it - as might naturally be expected, excited much interest and
alarm . Scale insects of many kin ds as well as insects belonging to
oth er groups, were sent to th e D epartment, with th e inquiry if they
were the San J ose scale.
A $ the result of th e distribution of this Circular, th e foll owing

additional localities were ascer taine d :
"N eavitt and Chestertown in Maryland ; Bartle, In diana; many
p oints in New J ersey; Atglen and Lewisbu rg, in S. Eastern and
Central P ennsylvania. It was also received fr om .Middletown,
I daho; an d from British Columbia,
Re ferring to th e above attacks, nf r. H oward gi ves encouraging
r eports: The orchard of 7,000 trees in A tglen, P a., under dir ec­
ti on of Dr. J. B. Smith, Entomologist at Rutgers College, N ew
J ersey, had been treated three t imes at inter vals of ten days, with
ker osene emulsion, with absolute success.
At the Lewisburg locality, the few infested pear trees that had
been bought fr om the New J ersey nurseries in 1890, had all been
kill ed but. one. Oth er trees to whi ch th e scale had spread were
being treated by the owner with every prospect of extermination.
A t Bartle, Indiana, t wo young apple trees fr om New J ersey
were infested. Those were taken up and burned, and no more of
th e insects were discoverable by careful search. (A second infesta­
tion has since been discovered at North Madison - See Iiurai N ew
Y orker, Iiv, p. 87.)
;:. I am indebted to th e Depar tment for the privilege of introducing th em in
th is paper: see Plates VI and VIL _


279

THE SAN JOSE SCALE

At Neavitt, Md., a 10-acre orchard of peach trees was badly
infested - nearly every tree was languishing from the attack.
Many had been taken up and destroyed, Full directions were given

for spraying, and the success of the operations will be watched.
The source of this infestation conld not be definitely ascertained,
but it was thought by the owner that the first affected trees had
C01l1e from a ~fissonri nurseryrnan - not from New Jersey.
Chestertown, .Md., showed bnt few infested trees. They had
been treated by the owner with thick whale-oil soap of the consist­
ency of molasses, with every prospect of extermination of the scale.
The infested trees had been received from New Jersey in 1890.
As a summary of the above, Mr. Howard states that the scale had
been exterminated (in 1894) in Indiana and Virginia, and the
probabilities were strong of a like result before the close of the year,
at the other localities named, except in Florida and New Jersey.
It has since come to the knowledge of the Division of Entomol­
ogy, that the scale has been found abundantly in three new locali­
ties in ~faryland. It has also been discovered in a locality in
Southern Georgia; in an orchard in Southern Ohio; in Newcastle
Co., Md.; in Jefferson 00., Indiana; at City Point, Va.; and at
Bristol, Pat In some of these localities the infestation was quite
Iimited, and it is believed to have been exterminated. (L. O.
Howard : Further Notes on the San Jose Scale, in Insect Life, vii,
1895, pp. 285, 286.)
THE SAN

JosE SCALE

IN

N E'V

YORK

During the meeting of the American Association for the Advance-­
ment of Science, at Brooklyn, N. Y., in August last-in a paper
read by Dr. Smith before the Association of Economic Entomolo­
gists on " The San J ose Scale in New Jersey," it was incidentally
stated that an orchard in Columbia County, New York, was known
to be badly infested with the scale. The particular orchard was
not named, but later, at my request, the information was obtained
from Dr. Smith, that IvIr. L. L. Morrell of Kinderhook, had not
long ago purchased a number of young apple trees (Ben Davis
variety) from one of the N ew Jersey nurseries. Two years later
(in 1894), on examination of these trees by one of the owners of
the nursery (a relative of Mr. Morrell), they were found to be badly


280

NEW

Y Ol~K

STATE MUSEUM

infe sted , and advice was given th at th ey should be at once taken np
and destroye d. A week 0 1' two later it was learned fro m 1\11'. Mor­
rell that t his had been clone, an d it was thought that with the
destructi on of the entire pu rchase, the scale had been exterm inated.
Th inkiJlg it imp ort ant to kno w whether the measure had been
entirely successful, I visited .1\11', Monell early in N ovembel', and
was met with th e unpleasant int elligence that he was fearful th at

he still had the insect with him, fo r he had found npon a sing le
pear wha t he believe d to be the scale. I t pro ved to be such,- per­
hap s a half-dozen of ind ividuals being scattered over its surface .
On exam ining his orcha rds, th e scale was found abu udan tly in
one of th em - a young peal' orchard in which a fe w t rees had
borne fr uit, for the first, th e present year. Some of the t rees were
moderately infested - perhaps a half -dozen scales or less being
found up on them; on others the scale was so num erous as to fairl y
encrust the br anches and most of th e trunk. It was appa re nt that
the latter were those upon which th e insect had been in t roduced,
and fr om which they had been scattered througho ut the orcha rd by
the agency of birds or other wise t o individual trees in various por­
tions of it.
.Most, if not all, of th e stock of this orchard, had been purchased
of the N ew Jersey nursery two yea rs p receding the planting; of
that whi ch had been taken Ul) and destroyed - the conditi on of this
havin g been overl ooked at the time. A larg e , portio n of 't he
orchard was critically gone over lJy me, and the trees mark ed which
called for special care in the app lication of th e winter wash recom­
mend ed, and those which should be at once taken up and burned.
The examinat ion of th e remainder of the orchard was subseq uen tly
mad e, and a nu mber of infested trees discovered. So determin ed
was Mr. }1orl'eJl to rid himself of this pest, th at ra th er th an wait
for a winte r treatment, all of the inf ested tr ees, as he has inform ed
me, were taken up and burne d : he believed th at he did not have a
seale r emaining in hi s orchard. If it should pr ove th at in thi s he
has been over-confident , there is every reason to believe th at within
anoth er year, the scale will be exte rm inated in this locality.
As the scale occurs also on th e leaves - usually in rows along the
midrib on th e upper side, it was recomm ended to Mr . Morrell that

the leaves from the worst infested trees which at the tim e of my


THE SAN JOSE SCALE

. 281

visit were lying on the ground beneath or ncar them, should be
raked together and burned, in order to prevent the chance of t he
scales being carried by th e winds over the entire orchard."
Th e infested trees were entirely of th e d' Anjou variety. In two
oth er orcha rds of :111'. .Morrol l of th e K ieffer pear, not a scale was
f ound, nor on the apple, cherry , and plum trees that were exam ined.
The inf estation was apparently confined to the two purc hases made
at the New J ersey nursery and had not extended beyond th em.
THE S CA L E ON LONG ISLAl\TJ)

In September of last yea r th e scale was discovered in abundance
in some of the nurseries on Long Island by Messrs. Sirrine & Lowe,
who had been commissioned by the State Agri cultural E xperiment
Station at Geneva for conducti ng some entomological in vestigations
especially desired on Western Long Island, und er an appropriation
of $8,000 made by the Legislatur e of 1894: to th e Sta tion named,
"for the purpose of agricultural experiment, investigations, instruc­
ti on and information, in the Second Judicial department " of the
St ate.
Among th e earlie r results of th eir investigati ons was the discovery
of the San J ose scale in grea t abundance in some of th e nurseries
on the Island . The following noti ce of its first obser vation was
communi cated to G(trden and F orest, of No vember 7, 1894::

The San J ose scale was observed first in the market at Jamaica
on some Bartl ett pears said to have been grown on th e I sland. The
scale was also conspicuous on some fancy varieties of pears exhibited
at the QueGl~s Oounty F air i and by tracing the frui t to its sour ce
some of the inf ested nurseries were located. W e have found the
scale on P ear, Apple, Peach, and Qnince stock in several nurseries.
The nurser.ymen were un able to give any definite information
regarding th e length of time th at th ey had had the scale, but it was
thought by some of th em that it had been with them for the past
tw enty years. Thi s, under th e circumstances, is impossible: They
had don btless mistaken some oth er scale for it. N or can any thing
definite be learn ed of th e source of the infestation. If known to
i.' Dr. Smith does not believe th at the fixed scale can be carri ed on fallen leaves.
H e states (Bulletin 106 New Jersey Aqricul. Ooll. Exp. Station, 1895, page 15):
"Only such as are affixed to the tree itself ha~e any chance of repr oducing their
kind. T hose that fix to the leav es fall with th em, and as these dry or decay the
insect dies for want of food before attaining maturity."

36


282

NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM

them they have been unwilling to communicate th e fact. It is
stated that the stock that was infested was not grown by them, but
was received fr om other nurseries. It would be of material service
in the efforts th at are Lcing made for th e extermination of the scale
in the East if the localities of th ese "oth er nurseries" could be

learned, but for some unkn own reason it is being withheld. This
u nfortu nate reticence is r eflecting on all th e other nurseries of the
State of N ew York, for it seems to be implied th at from some one
or more of them the Long I sland infested stock was originally
received. It is conceded that its source was not the N ew J ersey
nurseries.* The Geneva nurseries have been inspected by Mr. Lowe,
with the r esult, it is inferred, that the scale was not found th erein,
The R ochester nurseries have been strongly suspected. Mr. W . C.
Barry, when consulted, believed them to be entirely fr ee fr om its
presence, and this belief was subsequently carr ied to approximate
cert ainty by examinations made by Mr. Sirrine, from which it
resulted th at the reported San Jose scale at R ochester, when exam­
ined at W ashington, was found to be A spidiotu« anoylu8 - a closely
resembling, but comparatively harmless species.
C ONDIT ION OF THE LoNG ISLAND NUR SERIES

It would be of interest if the exact condition of the Long I sland
infestation could be given in this Bulletin. I can state, however,
from information received fr om Mr. Sirrine, un der date of March
22d, that he had visited the following nurs eries on I...ong I sland: ­
of 'Fred Boulon, Sea Cliff ; Keene &; Foulk, Flu shing; P arsons &;
Sons, Flushing; I saac Hicks & Sons, W estbury Station ; R. P.
J effery & Sons, Smithville South; P. H. Foster, Babylon ; W. C.
Wil son, Astoria; Gabriel Mare & Co., Woodside; and the Long
I sland Nursery Company, Br entw ood.
The last six of the nine above-named nurseries were found to be
fr ee fr om the scale. In the worse infested of the th ree,- as soon
as the attention of th e proprietors was called to the destru ctive
enemy that t hey were harboring, a large number of tre es were
taken up and burned. The remainder were sprayed, according to

*It has since been learned that one of th e Long Island nurseries has been
receiving stock nearly every year since 1888 from one or the other of the New
Jersey nurseries.


THE SAN JOS'fu SCALE

283

directions gi ven by Mr. Sirrine, and would be followed by other
sprayings in the event of the first not proving to be entirely
effectual.
In the other two nurseries, the few trees that had been found to
be infested had been destroyed, and it was thought that SUCll further
work would be done before the time for shipment, that no infested
stock would be sent out from them,
It was probably one of these t'\VO, that had been reported as
intractable last SU111111er. As represented at the time, the owners
were indifferent to the evil pointed out to them that would result
from the multiplication of the pest, and indisposed, to take any
measures against it. When a.gain seen by 1\11'. Sirrine inMarch, they
would give no assnrance of adopting the measures deemed necessary
for preventing the distribution of their infested stock. 'The only
promise that could be 0 btained from them was, that "they would
treat with gas the stock they sold, providing that they had the time."
A promise so broadly qualified could carry no weight with it.
Unless a satisfactory understanding can be had with the firm, its
name, if furnished to Inc, will be given in a foot-note, as a protec­
tion to purchasers of Long Island stock. -x·
There is scarcely a doubt but that infested stock has been sent

from these nurseries to many places in the State of New York. If
the attempt that is being made for the extermination of the scale in
the State during the present year is to prove successful, it is of the
utmost importance that each locality where possibly infested trees
have been ~elivered \vithin the past five years (dating back to the

* The name of this nursery has since been given me as the Parsons & Sons Com­
pany, at Flushing, Long Island. In a letter addressed them on .April 8th, the
following questions were asked, and the reasons stated why replies were needed:
1. Have you taken steps to learn by application to Mr. Sirrine or by other
proper means, of the extent of the infestation in your nurseries? 2. Have you
taken up and burned the stock that was found to be the worst infested? 3. To
what extent and with what results have you sprayed with proper insecticides
such other infested stock as it was not thought necessary to wholly destroy?
4. Have you arranged for treating the nursery stock sent out this season "with
hydrocyanic acid gas, according to the approved directions published and acces..
sible to you? 5. Have you sent out any nursery stock this year which may have
been infested without. having been subjected to the gas treatment?
In the answer returned by the Parsons & Sons Company to the above-mentioned
letter, the only reply to the questions proposed is that found in the following­


284

NEW YORK

ST.A:rE

MUSEUM:

probable establishment of the scale on Long Island) should be
ascertained, and carefully inspected as soon as possible. Request
was accordingly made of the proprietors of these infested nurseries,
that they would furnish the State Entornologist with a list of their
N ew Y ork sales from and including the year 1890 to the present.
One of the firms promptly COIn plied with the request, so far as it
could be done without invol ving excessive labor, and sent to this
office extended lists, at the same time offering to open their books
for further exarnination and transcription by anyone who might be
commissioned for the purpose.
It is due to this nrn1- Keene & Foulk, Bloodgood Nursery,
Flushing, L. I., that they be specially .mentioned, and commended
for the earnest manner in which they are working for the extermi..
nation of the scale in their nursery. They have asked for suggos..
tions and directions and have promptly and faithfully carried them
out - not only in burning and spraying, but also in arranging,
under the best approved method, for the fumigation by the hydro..
cyanic acid gas treatment of all the stock that they send out this
season; the latter should ensure the destruction of any scattered
individual scales that 111ay have been overlooked. They will also,
upon request, replace at half-price, all such infested stock that has
been received from their nursery in former years before its condi..
tion was known.
In consideration of what they have done and are doing for the
protection of their customers (and at the same time, of their own
interests), it is believed that orders l11ay be luore safely sent to theIll
prefaced by, "We only knew last fan of the San Jose scale:" "lIe [Mr. Sirrine]
has informed us now of the plants infected, and we shall take them up and burn
them as soon as possible. It is our intention to destroy rather than to spray. In
the plants now sending out we have not noticed any infected: it would be impos­

sible in any event to subject to the gas treatment while in the rush of sending
off trees."
Is it possible - as may be inferred from the above, that up to the middle of
April, absolutely nothing has been done by this company toward freeing their
nurseries from this dangerous iusect ?
III the absence of present legislation authorizing entrance upon private grounds
for the destruction of the San Jose scale, it only remains for purchasers of trees.
shrubs, etc., subject to its attack, to protect themselves so far as they may, by
withholding orders from localities known to be infested and where no efficient
measures have been and are being taken for its extermination.


THE SAN JO SE SCALE

285

than to other nurseries where the scale may be reasonably looked
for -where no thorongh inspection has been made -where it may
exist without having been detect ed, and where no gas fumigation,
as a safeguard against such a contingency, is practised,
From the two other known infested nurseri es on Long I sland, no
notice has been taken of the request for lists of Ne w Y ork sales of
p ossibly infested stock, sent them nnder elate of Feb. 15, 1894.*
.T rrE SAN J osE S CALE IN

N EW JERSEY

Nearly all of the infestation in the Atlantic and .adjoining States
having been clearly tra ceable to the sale - without knowledge or
suspicion of thei r danger ous condition - of infested tre es by two

·::· The following letter was addressed t o each of three nursery firms above
referred to:
Gentlemen: - Will you be kind enough to favor me with a list of the addresses
of all th e persons in th e State of New York to wh om you have made sales during
the last five ye ars (1890- 1894,) of nursery stock which might possibly ha ve been
infested with the San Jose scale which you have in you r nur series.
We are exp ecting to get a bill through our present Legislature by means of
which we sliall be able to have each locality into which inf ested stock may have
been introduced, examined by an exp ert, and such measures take n as give prom­
ise of exterminat ing th e scale in our State du ri ng the present year.
If you will f urn ish me with th e list requested, it will aid much in thi s
u nd ertakin g.
Yo u will also see tha t in consideration of the serious character of this pest and
the dang er of its introductio n into new localities, that not until we are able to
r eport as free from infestation, all the n urseries of the State, especially those on
L ong Island which hav e been widely published (without names), will there be a.
willingness on the part of fruit-growers to ord er stock fr om nurseries actually
having or suspected of havi ng, ~he dreaded San Jose scale,
One of the largest nurseries in N ew Jersey which had made wide distr ibution
of the scale, has sent me a list such as I ask of you, and is doing everything in
its power to prevent distribution of any infest ed stock.
I had asked Mr. Sirrine to proc ure such a list for me, but I have thoug h t it
better to make a personal request.
W'e must, if possible, ill the interests of both fru it -grower and nurseries, as
soon as it can be done, exterminate thc scale from our State .
I am very desirous of being able to say in the Bull etin which is nearly ready
for publication, that I have reliable assurance that no furth er distr ibu tion of the
scale will be made from New York nurseries. The name of your nurse ry will Dot
appear in it.
Very truly yours,