The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1907-05-08
PIN. TREEs THREATENED.
Government Takes Drastic Astton to
~sup I;asaxs. 81 Ulask Iss~sis.


Because a litsia hlscs, bag. esafrv.
iy ono sissh az aw inch long. has got
asaBas TIE psne tfrs@ Ia the nlsr&
ngsts. ssv rssvF lsEiss at hRa bern faEx-
"a practically 70 denu6s the oatlfe
aau&Nefa part8on IT The noaa,aina
ana arrangements have b.en tuadc
10 eat and aAw bAlf agliloa feet II
piss lumber ffnm fhese hllis the
co4lnr eamwef 20 raysupBH IL tha
IUt}e bi8rE bag fsnt every year he
Kills thousands ot fAn tiusat tftea
81 the hlaeE billie fprrat reserve.
ga SD asenlng y his wogb that
Ia order 81 prevent che scuugar fgUm
sqrea8sue 10 fhR wyoming noun
faIuA the government has drc iaed ia
take Tar Drastic ars}ua ~ cutting ail
the timber "a lhe infected districts.
which extend over number 81
counties Ia the southern Black hills.
The sound. merchantahlc timber In
tue lufeet.d dtatricts je estimated at
not iea than 500 88o GEO feet,
board measure. and there Is twice
as much mnye OF ae8d. bali rotten
t4mlyg which must come down Ad-
diiianauy. there aye thousands Of
mall trees. too small for use Of saw
mills. hBt which can be used for
fence posts. firewood and mine iluf-
her. ala Of which must be cleared out
In order to save the other portions
Of the Black hills from the little
beetle
The insect has only been at work
70 the hills for a few years, yet In
that time II has increased so rapid
~ that lt has gotten beyond the
control of the forest reserve service,
and drastic action is now necessary
TO prevent further loss.
The beetle only attacks trees Of
western yellow or bull pine species,
In It's adult state the beetle is only
from oue-siXth 10 one-quaTter OF an
inch long, and makes its appear
ance in July, August and September,
and, flying in swarms, attacks the
healthy green trees. Working in
pairs. the little insects eXcavate
longitudinal galleries through the
inner layer of the bark and groove
the surface Of the wood. The female
deposits her eggs at intervals along
this gallery and then dies. The eggs
hatch into small white grubs, which
mine at right angles to the primary
gallery through the inner bark, on
which they feed. The larvae from adj
jacent galleries. working in the same
manner, completely girdle the tree,
which soon dies. The larvae pass the
winter in the trees, and in the spring
develop into the pupa stage and
thence into adults, when they emerge
and the process is repeated.
Soon after the attack by the bee
tie the wood of the pine begins to
turn blue, due to a fungus in the
wood cells. After infection the trees
remain green until spring, when
the leaves begin to die. In this con-
dition the wood is just as good as
that of healthy trees.
The dead timber is that from
which the insects have emerged and
whose needles have died. It's condi-
ton depends upon the length of
time it has been dead Two years at
ter the attack the trees begin to rot
and their sOundness is uncertain
from that time onward.
When lumber was sawed from
trees in the blue" stage. expert
ments made in the civil engineering
department of Washington Uniyer-
sity of ST. Louis showed this lum-
Der to be slightly stronger than the
lumber from green trees. However
its durability when exposed TO mois-
ture is not so great as that of the
green lumber. For building purpos-
es. where the wood is not exposed
10 moisture. its durability is al
most as great as that of healthy
lumber.
The government is offering this
Infected timber, standing. to saw
min men at 81 per 1000 feet. where
a- the healthy. green trees sell for
S. per 1000 feet,
The forest reserve service will at
tempt 20 secure bids from the great
lumber companies. who will work
rapidly and cut trees by the thous-
and. 10 is estimated that three years
viii be- required TO cut all the trees
deemed necessary aud while this
WORK is going ou government ex-
ports viii bee working along other
lines liza their efforts To destroy the
liftle beetle which mas caused such
heavy loss among the pine trees.
tissussd Ia Nsd.
am ~ ltst.. Awnn4s.