About the first of last August (1882) I noticed that a large
percentage of the undergrowth of the sugar maple (_Acer saccharinum_)
in Lewis County, Northeastern New York, seemed to be dying The leaves
drooped and withered, and finally shriveled and dried, but still clung
to the branches.

The majority of the plants affected were bushes a centimeter or two in
thickness, and averaging from one to two meters in height, though a
few exceeded these dimensions. On attempting to pull them up they
uniformly, and almost without exception, broke off at the level of the
ground, leaving the root undisturbed. A glance at the broken end
sufficed to reveal the mystery, for it was perforated, both vertically
and horizontally, by the tubular excavations of a little Scolytid
beetle which, in most instances, was found still engaged in his work
of destruction.

At this time the wood immediately above the part actually invaded by
the insect was still sound, but a couple of months later it was
generally found to be rotten. During September and October I dug up
and examined a large number of apparently healthy young maples of
about the size of those already mentioned, and was somewhat surprised
to discover that fully ten per cent. of them were infested with the
same beetles, though the excavations had not as yet been sufficiently
extensive to affect the outward appearance of the bush. They must all
die during the coming winter, and next spring will show that, in Lewis
County alone, hundreds of thousands of young sugar maples perished
from the ravages of this Scolytid during the summer of 1882.