CEYPTOCOCCUS FAGI. 219 



my notice at Blagdon, in Northumberland. With an 

 eighth-of-an-inch auger bore three holes at about 

 equal distances right into the centre of the trunk, 

 about three feet from the ground, and sloping slightly 

 towards the root of the tree. Into these holes place 

 as much flowers of sulphur as can be conveniently got 

 in, and then cork them firmly up with a plug of soft 

 wood. This should be done in the autumn, and will 

 be found successful. It w^as first adopted about thirty 

 years ago, and the trees which were then operated on 

 are now in comparatively good condition. Prior to 

 the experiment they were covered with the scale, were 

 very sickly-looking, and shed their leaves prema- 

 turely. 



" I must acknowledge my thanks to Sir Matthew 

 White-Ridley, Bart., . . . for kindly granting per- 

 mission to record the above treatment." 



On the strength of the above recommendation 

 Mr. Lyle Smyth, of Barrowmore Hall, near Chester, 

 adopted the method on a number of young beech trees 

 on his estate. I have recently (April, 1903) made an 

 examination of the trees in question, and have also 

 made a microscopical examination of the coccids, with 

 the result that I find the latter still living. Whether 

 the remedy will ultimately succeed I cannot say, but 

 I have very grave doubts. The trees which were 

 bored are about eighteen to twenty years old, and 

 one of them already shows signs of decay above one 

 of the bore-holes. 



Habits. The eggs are laid at the beginning of July, 

 and the larvae hatch in the autumn, and apparently 

 also in the spring. On hatching from the egg the 

 majority of the larvae work their way under the bodies 

 of their dying or dead parents, taking up their po- 

 sitions by preference in the deepest parts of the 

 fissures in the bark, where they remain for the rest of 

 their lives, pumping up the juices of the tree. Each 

 individual protects or covers its body with secretion, 

 which adds to that already secreted above them by 



