Trees, Shrubs, Vines and Plants. 381 



mainly in the trunk or near the bases of the larger limbs. Here 

 the winter is passed, and the following spring the boring is 

 resumed, the tunnels running In any direction, though most often 

 upward or obliquely around the tree. Later a deep burrow is 

 formed farther in the tree, running upward toward the heart. 

 Here the borer pupates, escaping the following summer as the 

 adult beetle. 



Few effective methods of control can be used against this in- 

 sect. Discoloration of the bark and particles of frass found on the 

 trees in the fall may indicate about where a young borer is at 

 work, and the use of a knife, cutting out the borer there, is advis- 

 able. If a burrow can be found in which it seems probable a borer 

 is present but out of reach, a little carbon disulphide placed on 

 some cotton and pushed into the hole, which should then be stopped 

 up with soap, putty, or some similar material, should destroy the 

 borer. Treating the trunks of the trees with a carbolic acid wash 

 about the middle of June would probably provide some protection 

 against egg laying on trees thus treated. This wash is made by 

 adding a gallon of hot water to a gallon of soft soap, adding a pint 

 of crude carbolic acid and letting it stand twelve hours before di- 

 luting with eight gallons of soft water. This should be thoroughly 

 washed over the trunk and also a few feet up on each of the larger 

 limbs. 



The Cottony Maple Scale. 



This scale insect is frequently very injurious to maples, par- 

 ticularly soft maples, and is also sometimes found on other plants. 

 It is located on the twigs and resembles a small tuft of cotton pro- 

 truding from beneath a small brown scale. 



The insect is not often very noticeable during the spring 

 months, the cottony portion not having developed. During the 

 summer, however, the cottony threads form, and among these the 

 eggs and young occur. The young soon leave the cotton where 

 they were born, and pass to the leaves and settle down, mainly 

 along the veins, to feed. E^ch now secretes a covering scale, and, 

 before the leaves drop, the insects travel back to the twigs to pass 

 the winter. In the spring they grow rapidly, and in June produce 

 the cottony threads, making them more noticeable. 



