The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1894-09-21
Wood Piercing Insects and Birds.

a full description of most of our for
est pests. More recently the subject
was treated by Prof A. ID. Hopkins,
entomologist of the West Virginia
Agricultural Experiment Station, in
the official bulletins for last January
and February. Considerable time
was given to discussing wood-pierc-
ing insects and birds during the
scientific meetings in Brooklyn in
August; both in the botanical section
of the A. A. A. S. and in the Amcri-
can Forestry Association, in which
Mr.. Hopkins, Hon. G.. w. Minier,
Major Jed Hotchkiss, Hon. B. Z.
Fcrnow, and others participated.
What is now attempted is merely to
put in popular form some of these
scientific facts and conclusions.
Every thoughtful person must feel
a degree of alarm at the rapid disap-
pcarancc of our American forests.
The AK, the torch, and other foes that
might be named, will soon disrobc
our hills and compel costly cxpcdi-
ents to be rcsortcd to in order to re-
place what is being so rccklcssly de-
stroycd We should welcome any
information that will help us to main
tain our natural forests. or to plant
successfully cultivated groves, or that
will augment the utility. beauty or
value of our existing woods. Beetles
and grubs may not make the scnsa-
ton caused by forest conhagration,
nor do they cndanger human life.
Yet the reports show that these minor
causes destroy annually many million
dollars worth of valuable trees and
lumber. For instance, only four
years ago, the pine bark beetle IN
vadcd the pine lands of Virginia,
and the result now is that hundreds
of thousands of acres of forest are
killed as cftcctually as if it had been
done by conflagration. Similar
dcvastations are reported from por-
tions &C New York, New England,
and the Maritime Provinces. 1t is
high time for us to pay attention to
wood-boring insects and their enc
mics.
There is Il difference in the habits
and methods of these insects: some
attacking the healthy wood of thrifty
trees, others the substance of injured
trees, and others, again, only dead
wood, or logs and stumps. The sap
wood alone is perforated by certain
species, while others pierce the sound
heart of the tree. The wormholes
vary in diameter from the onc-hun-
drcdth of an inch to an inch or more,
and in length from half an inch to
many feet. In many cases they are
subsequently enlarged by wood ants,
or by the process Of natural decay.
Minute pcrforations called ''pin
holes are often found in otherwise
sound oak and chestnut wood, which
are serious injury to square tim
bcrs, planks, slaves and headings.
These arc made by larvae armed with
horny gouges, the young of certain
winged beetles. They pierce through
to the heart wood, while other kinds
stop in the sap wood. The latter are
usually the adults, however, instead
of the young, the tiny beetles bur-
rowing nests, or even extensive gal
lcrles, for the purpose of dcpositing
their eggs. The brood remains i'm
prisoned till maturcd, when it
emcrges to repeat the work of de-
structlon on new material. How
great that destructive work is in the
aggregate it is impossible now to say,
owing to our mcagcr knowledge of
facts. by some the deprecated
value Of the annual lumber output is
estimated at fully fifty per cent, and
in some cases it is said to reduce the
cash returns below the cost of pro-
duction, while others report compara-
lively slight loss from the causes
indicated.
But the important and hopeful
thing to be said is that, by simple
and comparatively inexpensive meas
urrs, Il large per cent ofthis immense
loss can bcprevcntcd. Experiments
are being made as to the introduction
of friendly parasites that shall rid our
woods Of hostile insects. Suggcs-
tons have been made as to steaming
the infested timber, and other direct
modes Of attack. But meanwhile
much may be done, in preventive
way, by improved methods of manag-
ing standing trees, logs and stumps,
and manufactured lumber.
1t seems to be generally conceded
that forest beetles will not deposit
their eggs on sound living trees, but
on y at places where a tree has in
some manner been wounded. This
indicates that they may be rcpcllcd