about a month before the parent dies. The young are very 

 small, yellow, and crawl about for a time till they find a satis- 

 factory place on which to settle. During this time they may 

 crawl on to the feet of some larger insect or bird, and thus 

 be carried to some other tree, where they may crawl off and 

 infest that tree, or they may be blown by gusts of wind on to 

 trees near by. When ready to settle down, they work their 

 beaks into the bark till they reach the sap upon which they 

 feed, then begin to produce waxy, white threads on their 

 backs. These threads soon mat together, forming a circular 

 white scale, and to this are added molted skins as the insect 

 grows. These skins and the action of the weather; turn the 

 scale gray or blackish, so that young scales may often show 

 black, white and gray, arranged more or less in concentric 

 rings, though they are so small that this can be seen only 

 under a magnifying glass. In a month or less from the time 

 they were born these young have become mature and in their 

 turn are producing young, and there is accordingly an almost 

 continuous production of young from the middle of June 

 till cold weather begins, the process in Massachusetts usually 

 ending before the first of December. At this time there will 

 be scale insects of all ages on the trees, but all the adults 

 and young scales die during the winter, leaving only those 

 which are half or two-thirds grown. The early spring 

 months are used by these in completing their growth, the 

 adult condition being reached and reproduction beginning, 

 as already stated, about the middle of June. 



Treatment. 



This pest can be successfully treated only during the win- 

 ter months. Many different methods have been used, but 

 most of these are either worthless or too expensive to be 

 available. 



Trees nearly dead can probably be saved by treatment; 

 but this does not usually pay, it takes the trees so long to 

 recover. In most cases it is better to destroy such trees. 



Where treatment is advisable miscible oils and the lime- 

 sulfur wash are now much in favor for this purpose. 



