The Rescue of an Old Place 



with twigs, as after a storm ; but that su- 

 percilious insect disdains trees the size of 

 ours, and he is still to be anticipated. 



Upon some of the dwarf evergreens 

 we have discovered a white scale insect, 

 something like a mealy-bug, which covers 

 the trunks and branches with its white 

 spots, but that seems to yield to the dis- 

 suasive effects of soap and water, and 

 disappears after a good scrubbing. 



The Hemlocks are to be watched with 

 a new anxiety, since the newspapers tell 

 us of a worm that is destroying the foliage 

 and killing the timber in Potter County, 

 Pennsylvania. This creature infests the 

 trees in great quantities, to the dismay of 

 the lumbermen, who are unable to destroy 

 them. It is hard enough to persuade a 

 Hemlock to grow, any way, but if a beast 

 is lying in wait to devour it, we may as 

 well give up altogether. I am told that 

 there is a book as big as the Bible, pub- 

 lished by the Agricultural Department in 

 Washington, about nothing in the world 

 but the insects injurious to forest-trees, 

 which seems enough to discourage the 

 planters, even of a wood that can be cov- 

 224 



