Forest Pests. 205 



this even to the young trees. When they are plentiful I have 

 taken as many as 6 or 8 beetles off one young tree, and sometimes 

 acres of young plantings are totally destroyed by them. 



Another pest which have done a good deal of damage are 

 voles (Arvicola agrestis), which have appeared in great numbers 

 this year. For some years we have had occasional young trees 

 gnawed through by them; but this year they have done a con- 

 siderable amount of damage ; I doubt whether we yet know how 

 much, because the trees are gnawed through just below the 

 ground, and at this season it is sometimes only if you take hold of 

 a tree and pull it up that you find the root has been gnawed away, 

 the upper part has remained standing erect in a round hole a few 

 inches deep. Beech have suffered most with me, but I have here 

 a specimen of an oak, the only one I found ; also ash and alder 

 have suffered, but no coniferce. In Dr Nisbet's book an instance 

 is given of a mixed wood on Sir R. Menzies' property, larch and 

 Scotch fir, with oak, ash, sycamore, elm, beech, and sweet 

 chestnut, and only the Scotch fir suffered. As to remedial mea- 

 sures, what appears to be most recommended is the digging of 

 trenches to catch the voles in; but on very stony hill sides this 

 would be, I fear, almost impossible. Dr Nisbet mentions that 

 the voles did much damage to oak and ash at Drumlanrig in 1864 

 to 67, and again in 75-76, 91-92, and were got rid by digging 

 pits. Sir R. Menzies used poison, phosphorous paste mixed with 

 oatmeal, laid in drain tiles scattered over the woods. Not wishing 

 to use poison, I have tried the new preparation called " Ratin,'" 

 but I regret to say I canot report any greater success with it ^-han 

 the Dumfriesshire farmers who tried it for their rats, as noticed 

 in last week's newspapers. 



There is another pest to which I would like to refer before 

 sitting down. It is not an insect nor a quadruped, but a biped, 

 and is known as the Sunday stroller, male and female. I am 

 inclined to think the female variety the worse of the two, because 

 they have difficulty in negotiating wire netting, with the result 

 that it is often pulled down and left down. Only yesterday, when 

 looking for some samples to bring to this meeting, I went to a 

 small clump of trees planted about fourteen months ago. The 

 clump contains groups of some rather uncommon varieties which 

 I had planted for experiment. Well, some of these two-footed 



