208 Practical Forestry 



situated, live fo? many years. Fully grown trees are, in my 

 opinion, more liable to be killed quickly than younger speci- 

 mens. 



As regards remedies, these can only conveniently be 

 applied to single specimens and are scarcely practicable 

 on a large scale. That success has, however, attended the 

 application of certain remedies I am quite convinced, for 

 several valuable ornamental trees on a lawn in Buckingham- 

 shire that were badly affected by the pest are now, twelve 

 months after being treated, quite free from the insect, and 

 do not appear to have suffered in consequence. In this 

 case the remedy was simple, and consisted merely in scrub- 

 bing the tree stems where affected with a stiff brush dipped 

 in an emulsion of soft soap, this being rubbed well into all 

 crevices of the bark. Only one application was given, but 

 as the trees were nearly 100 ft. high with many large limbs, 

 which also showed the presence of the coccus, the work took 

 a considerable time. However, the results well repaid the 

 expense of labour. Another excellent remedy is to mix 

 together equal portions of paraffin and soft soap, and when 

 required for use add twenty times their bulk of hot water, 

 stirring all well together. This may be applied either with 

 a scrubbing brush or syringed on to the affected parts. 

 Other measures of a more drastic nature have been found to 

 be beneficial, but those given are probably the simplest and 

 best. Three or four handfuls of lime to a bucket of water 

 is an excellent application, the only drawback being the 

 unpleasant colour imparted to the trees. This is a simple 

 remedy, and may be applied with a painter's or scrubbing 

 brush. It has saved many trees on an estate near London. 



Wire worms. These occasionally do a great deal of 

 damage in beds of seedling trees, particularly conifers, and 

 in some instances they attack and destroy the seeds before 

 germination. In the case of young conifers they are gnawed 

 completely through just above or at the ground level, the 

 beds in many instances being strewn with the cut-over 

 plants. Abies nobilis and A. Nordmanniana suffer to a 

 great extent, and I have frequently been at my wit's end 

 to put a stop to the repeated depredations. In the case of 



