118 DA VET'S PRIMER 



Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the 

 sun." 



In one respect this may be true, but another thing is 

 also true, namely: All things are "new" to us when 

 we first learn of them. Just how "new" these pests 

 are, here presented, I cannot say ; neither could I 

 answer the question that a small boy asked one day, as 

 to when they were "first invented." The photograph 

 to the left is a piece of a small branch of an ash tree 

 that has been killed by the " scale " that you see on it 

 the Oyster-shell bark-louse. There were millions on the 

 one tree, and they were so thick that they actually 

 covered the bark in places, and the result was they 

 sucked the life from the tree and killed it ! The picture 

 to the right presents the scurfy bark-louse and the San 

 Jose (pronounced San Hosa) scale. 



As you get older you will learn more concerning the 

 enemies of our trees, but, for the present, the purpose is 

 to lead you to form habits of observing, so that with a 

 practised eye you will know how to take "a stitch in 

 time." There is a peculiar arrangement in this life, 

 for example : the leaves decay and the grass feeds on 

 them ; the ox eats the grass, and we eat the ox ; every- 

 thing seems parasitic, that is, living on some other 

 creature. 



Of all the animals man has the largest brain. 

 Through our eyes the beauty of the trees and other 

 objects are impressed on the brain; through our ears 

 come the thrilling songs of birds, but the birds must 



