8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



The fall army worm, another grass and grain pest, was exces- 

 sively abundant in the vicinity of New York City, seriously injur- 

 ing lawns, destroying millet and corn and feeding upon a variety 

 of grasses. This outbreak was also investigated and a detailed 

 account of the insect has been prepared. 



Shade tree pests. The widespread and severe injuries of earlier 

 years by the elm leaf beetle in the Hudson valley in particular, 

 amply justified extended observations the past season. It was found 

 that the exceptional damage in 191 1 resulted in a feeble growth 

 and weakened trees the past season. The early portion of the 

 spring was unusually cool and moist, and largely as a result of 

 these conditions we believe injury by this pest was not so severe 

 as last year. There was a marked irregularity in the work of the 

 beetle, some trees in a locality and in certain cases some localities 

 being almost exempt from injury, while in others the damage was 

 relatively severe. A portion of this may be explained, possibly by 

 more thorough spraying. Experiments were conducted with sweet- 

 ened and unmodified arsenate of lead for the purpose of ascertain- 

 ing if any material advantage was to be gained by the addition of 

 a cheap sugar or molasses. There was no marked difiterence be- 

 tween the two series and our earlier work with poisons was con- 

 firmed in large measure. 



The false maple scale continues abundant in the vicinity of Xew 

 York Cit}' and was a subject of considerable correspondence during 

 the summer. The cottony maple scale was also responsible for a 

 number of complaints. 



Forest pests. The hickory bark beetle has continued its destruc- 

 tive operations in the vicinity of Xew York City. The abundance 

 of this pest and the hearty cooperation of ^Ir J. James de \>ver, 

 Blount A'ernon, made possible a series of tests for the purpose of 

 finding some method which could be relied upon to destroy the 

 insect after the beetles had entered the trees. Studies in the field 

 showed that in some localities many of the grubs died within a 

 few weeks after hatching and before they were able to cause 

 material injury. A detailed discussion of this work, together with 

 investigations upon the biolog}* of the pest and its natural checks, 

 is given on a subsequent page. 



Many of the white pines in the vicinity of Albany have been 

 killed in recent years by bark borers. A study of the conditions 

 showed that in all probability this attack was the outcome of 

 extreme droughts and very low winter temperatures. Persons 



