8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
The fall army worm, another grass and grain pest, was exces- 
sively abundant in the vicinity of New York City, seriously injur- 
ing lawns, destroying millet and corn and feeding upon a variety 
of grasses. This outbreak was also investigated and a detailed 
account of the insect has been prepared. 
Shade tree pests. The widespread and severe injuries of earlier 
years by the elm leaf beetle in the Hudson valley in particular, 
amply justified extended observations the past season. It was found 
. that the exceptional damage in 1911 resulted in a feeble growth 
and weakened trees the past season. The early portion of the 
spring was unusually cool and moist, and largely as a result of 
these conditions we believe injury by this pest was not so severe 
as last year. There was a marked irregularity in the work of the 
beetle, some trees in a locality and in certain cases some localities 
being almost exempt from injury, while in others the damage was 
relatively severe. A portion of this may be explained, possibly by 
more thorough spraying. Experiments were conducted with sweet- 
ened and unmodified arsenate of lead for the purpose of ascertain- 
ing if any material advantage was to be gained by the addition of 
a cheap sugar or molasses. There was no marked difference be- 
tween the two series and our earlier work with poisons was con- 
firmed in large measure. 
The false maple scale continues abundant in the vicinity of New 
York City and was a subject of considerable correspondence during 
the summer. The cottony maple scale was also responsible for a 
number of complaints. 
Forest pests. The hickory bark beetle has continued its destruc- 
tive operations in the vicinity of New York City. The abundance 
of this pest and the hearty cooperation of Mr J. James de Vyver, 
Mount Vernon, made possible a series of tests for the purpose of 
finding some method which could be relied upon to destroy the 
insect after the beetles had entered the trees. Studies in the field 
showed that in some localities many of the grubs died within a 
few weeks after hatching and before they were able to cause 
material injury. A detailed discussion of this work, together with 
investigations upon the biology of the pest and its natural checks, 
is given on a subsequent page. 
Many of the white pines in the vicinity of Albany have been 
killed in recent years by bark borers. A study of the conditions 
showed that in all probability this attack was the outcome of 
extreme droughts and very low winter temperatures. Persons 
