NOTES AND QUERIES. 245 
elm. Of course the dimensions of these trees compare unfavour- 
ably with those of either species in less exposed districts. We 
lie open to the full force of S.W., W. and N.W. winds from the 
sea. HERBERT MAXWELL. 
NOTE ON THE BeErEcH FELT SCALE. 
(With Plate.) 
The Beech Felt Scale (Cryptococcus fagi), as pointed out in 
a recently issued Leaflet (No. 140) by the Board of Agriculture 
and Fisheries, is probably one of the worst pests that foresters 
are called upon to deal with. 
In Scotland it has hitherto been most troublesome on the east 
coast and in Perthshire, but it has by no means beén confined 
to these areas, and it is now increasing rapidly in the western and 
south-western counties. Until a year or two ago there was little 
or no evidence of its presence here, but isolated trees have been 
observed and treated during the last two years, and still odd 
trees come under observation. 
In the early stages of attack it is not easily seen, as the insect 
is very minute, and generally scattered over a large area of the 
trunk and larger limbs; and it is only when the attack becomes 
chronic, probably in the second or third year, that it becomes so 
prominent, through the increase of the colonies, and the 
accumulation of the white felty secretion, as to be quite visible 
to the casual observer. 
The insect, small as it is, seems to have its likes and dislikes, 
as it may attack one or more trees in a group, leaving others 
quite as tasty, to all appearance, untouched. ‘The parts attacked 
are generally those away from the direction of the prevailing 
wind, while on horizontal limbs or branches it is almost invari- 
ably the lower side. This would look as if they preferred the 
position where the bark was thinnest and most succulent, as 
well as the most sheltered positions. While this may be so, 
colonies are found on exposed sides, and in fissures on the rough- 
est bark, even near the ground. One remarkable feature is that of 
all the stems attacked here, only one showing the canker-spots 
of LVectria ditissima has been attacked, the insect seemingly 
avoiding such as being too dry in the bark for their liking. As 
to whether the fungus may follow in the wake of the insect, time 
will tell. 
