The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-12-20
FUNGUS CHECKS the
RAVAGES OF TIMBER
BEETLE IN 50. OAK.
Little ozark PeeIers" Driving
Out Destroyers Of Black
Hills Forests.


beetle, which for several years has
been working havoc In the valuable
pine timber of the Black Hills, South
Dakota, has apparently been given
check by n fungus which finds in the
dying trees a congenial place OF lodG-
ment. and at the same time kills the
beetles in the bark. There is hope that
the worst of the scourge in that re-
giOn has passed.
For ten years this beetle has been
sweeping through the Black Hills for
ests. every year invading fresh areas.
The total amount of pine destroyed by
1t is reckoned at not less than one Dill
lion feet, board measure. AT the pres
South Dakota this loss would amount
to S6.000,000 1t now appears that It's
maximum destructiveness was reached
about two years ago, and 1t is now Or
the decline.
Fungus Gusts Beetles.
Two years ago the discovery was
made that a fungus was at work In
the timber, killed by the beetles, In
which the broodS were passing their IN
FAINT stages preparatory to taking flight
to new forests. 1t was noted at that
time that the fungus was fatal to the
young beetles, but the full extent OF
the work done by the fungus has just
been made known in a report covering
Investigations of many months by the
forest service.
The fungus is Ozark peeler." Ex-
perts have claimed all the time that
the beetles could be checked If some
way could be found to peel the trees
in which the young broods are harbor-
ing. They live In the inner bark and
next to the wood. When the bark is
separated from the wood their CALLER
les are laid open and they die. Efforts
have been made in the affected dis
tricts to peel standing trees. Ma
chinery has been made for that express
purpose and trunks were stripped to a
height of twenty feet. But so large
are the affected areas that the few trees
peeled We're not drop in the bucket.
Mans Inventions Fail.
Efforts were made at different times
sold to mill men. and large quaatities
We're cut. but not enough to have any
appreciable effect on the beetle in
vasion. Wood peckers helped the work
along. They focked to the dying trees
by hundreds and stripped them OF their
enough. The pest had gained such
headway that 1T was beyond the power
of bark peelers, log cutters and wood
peckerS.
Meanwhile the peculiar fungus was
gaining headway and getting in its
work. 1t appears in the form of a
grayish slime between the bark and
wood. 1t makes the bark loose and it
falls, leaving the trees bare. and bring
ing down the multitudes of young
beetles to their certain death; Or IL the
bark still hangs on the trunks. the ef-
feet on the beetles is equally fatal, for
they die in the galleries and larva
mines.
Beetle Is Defenseless.
! The habits and life history Of thiA
bark beetle render it defenseless when
attacked by the fungus. The parent
beetle bores gallery several inches
long in the inner layers of bark, grow
Ing the wood. Eggs are deposited at
intervals along both sides of the gall
These eggs hatch, and while in the lar
val state. they bore short galleries at
right angles to the parent tunnel. They
remain there year. eating and grow
ing. Their depredations kill the most
vital part of the tree-the cambium,
though the tops and needles do not
succumb at once. and it is at that stage
that the fungus appears and brings the
career Of the beetle brood to close.
In normal conditions it probably finds
proper decline to suit Its purposes, or
1t may attack storm thrown timber,
but 1t is not numerous enough to XIII
trees. and its invasion can not gain
headway. But when some unusual con
dition-such as caused by q hurricane
sweeping over large timber area-pro-
vides a start the beetles may increase
in numbers until they are able to at
tack vigorous trees and kill them, and
In fact when the epidemic is at its
height they almost invariably attack
living trees.
Will Save Forests.
That is what has happened in the
Black Fills. The invasion continues
until some enemy reduces the beetles
below the point where they are able to
kill timber. That puts an end to the in
vasion. This is, apparently, what the
fungus is accomplishing in the Black
/ Hills at this time.
FEDERAL CONTROL